Chapter 5: An Unexpected Visitor

I pledge, on this very day, to never underestimate Sasuke Uchiha ever again. He is a force beyond nature. I don't know how he did it. Currently, I've brought back Hinata and Sai to Yuniti. It was about 10 PM, so we made pretty good time. The closer we got to the school, the more I felt bad. Yuniti was a huge dump the moment I left. Sasuke said he would clean it, and I totally didn't believe him.

Now, I don't know what to believe.

All the the stone buildings were a bright white. All the wooden parts and areas were replaced with sparkling oak. The weeds were gone along with their cracks, and the pathways were clear. The street lamps all glowed perfectly, illuminating the whole campus. The practice areas and the lounging areas looked cleaner too. To top it off, there were two dear laying in the grass with their sleeping baby fawn.

"N-Naruto?" Hinata got in my line of sight with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"He looks dumbfounded for some reason." Sai said. Of course I'm dumbfounded! How did Sasuke do this!? Sure, he had the whole day, but this should be impossible! I glanced to my left and saw Kakashi walk up and survey the scene. His face may be covered, but you could clearly see the surprise in his left eye. He took one look at the deer family and shook his head. I'm so with you there, Kakashi. Sasuke came out from one of the buildings and headed our way. He wore a blue bandana in his hair to keep his bangs out of his face and had his ripped jacket tied around his waist. His right arm had a bandage wrapped around it.

"Welcome back, moron. You found some new students?" I didn't answer his question as I walked up to him and just gestured to the campus. "What? You don't like how it looks?" I slowly shook my head.

"How?" He gave me confused look. "How did you get it look like this?"

"I cleaned it. You know, it's the process where you get rid of the dirty stuff and make everything look nice." Now he's talking to me like I'm 2!

"Dude! It wasn't like this when I left! It is waaaaaaay too clean! There's even freaking Bambi over there! How did you do all this!?" A thoughtful look crossed his face before he answered. He beckoned me closer and whispered in my ear.

"Because I'm a ninja." Really? I pulled back and gave him a mild look while he smirked lightly.

"You're such a dork."

"Takes one to know one." Before I could launch back, someone cleared their throat behind me. I looked back at Kakashi, who gestured to the confused Hinata and Sai. Whoops! Forgot about them. I raced back and introduced them.

"This is Hinata and Sai. They'll be joining us as new students!" Hinata bowed politely while Sai bowed halfway. Sasuke walked up next to me and inspected the new students.

"Hinata." We all turned our heads towards Kakashi as he walked closer. "You're a Hyuga, am I correct?" Huh? What's a Hyuga? Sounds funny. Hinata looked shocked but nodded. "Hm. That's interesting. By your face, I can guess you don't know what a Hyuga is, Naruto." I jumped. Gah, why is it always me!? Kakashi sighed. "Ah, I'll just let Sasuke explain." Looking back at Sasuke, he was staring intensely at Hinata. Hey! Don't stare at her! I gave him a harsh nudge, and he glared at me before speaking.

"The Hyuga are a noble clan of prominent people. They are quite wealthy and have high standards and statuses in society. Known as one of the noble clans in the Leaf Village, they possess a powerful ability. It is called the "Byakugan" or the "All Seeing White Eye". With it, they can see everything around them without even looking. Also, they can see through solid objects and have certain range of telescopic scope. They can also see the chakra circulating within our bodies and use that to their advantage during battle." Sasuke looked levelly at Hinata. Her eyes were downcast. "A feared dōjutsu indeed." Kakashi spoke up.

"He is correct. It was quite feared." I blinked. It's not anymore? "Ninja aren't needed anymore, so the Byakugan basically has no purpose anymore. The Hyuga clan still trains with it, I believe. They practice many forms of martial arts and are known for being academic scholars. They are strong in both body and mind. True warriors indeed." Kakaski paused and opened his book. "Just like the Uchiha clan were." Wait. Huh!? Uchiha!? But, that's Sasuke's last name! I looked back at Sasuke with wide eyes, but he continued to stare at Hinata. "They also had a powerful dōjutsu. Oh, for those of us who don't know what that is, Naruto, a dōjutsu is a type of kekkei genkai, or "ability inherited by bloodlines", that works through the eyes. Oh!" Kakashi's voice suddenly got cheery, and he looked happy for some reason. Well, he looked as happy you could look with your face whole face covered up. "Fun fact time! The Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan have been longstanding, natural enemies for over hundreds of years! All clan members hate the other clan members guts and have had many bloody spats and disagreements!" Eh?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?

Hinata raised her eyes and looked at Sasuke. He continued to stare coldly at her. You could just feel the tension in the air. I don't get it. Why!? Why does this have to happen!? Hinata played with her fingers and looked at Sasuke some more.

"U-Um, you're an U-Uchiha?"

"Yes. Problem?" Yikes! He's pissed! What is with him!? Hinata shook her head quickly and began to stammer some more.

"N-No! I-I just thought the Uchiha clan was-"

"Was what?" Sasuke looked furious, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw his eyes flash red. I rubbed my eyes. Am I seeing things? Hinata looked like she was about to cry and lowered her head.

"N-Never mind. I'm sorry." That's it! I stepped in front of Hinata and glared at Sasuke.

"Hold up, Sasuke! This is ridiculous! Just because your clans had conflict in the past, doesn't mean you should have conflict now! You're both here to learn and grow stronger. You can accept Hinata as your rival, but you must accept her as your comrade as well! Got it?" Sasuke gave me a look and sighed.

"Fine. I wasn't planning on fighting her now anyways. I'll fight her when I'm ready."Ah. I sighed. Problem avoided. I looked behind me and gazed at Hinata. She looked surprised but smiled up at me gratefully. She stepped from behind me and stood next to me while addressing Sasuke.

"L-Let's be friends please!" She bowed quickly again, and Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Whatever. But, just so you know, I won't go easy on you because you're a shy, little Hyuga girl." Well, I wasn't really planning on doing the same, but he didn't have to say it like that. Such charm. Hinata blinked a couple times before answering.

"O-Oh. Okay then. D-Don't worry! I, uh, I won't go easy on you because of your clan's condition either." At the end, her white eyes narrowed slightly, and a tense look crossed her face. My mouth flew open, and my eyes bulged out in surprise. Hinata! Where'd that sudden courage come from!? Sasuke looked shocked too, for his eyes were widened as well. Suddenly, Hinata blinked again, and her white eyes reverted back to their large, innocent, doe-like shape. "Uh, I guess that's all I have to say." For some reason, she looked more shy than usual. "S-Sensei?" Kakashi quickly shook his head. He must have been surprised by Hinata's change of character too.

"Y-Yes, Hinata?"

"U-Um, I have nothing to do, so is it okay if I go feed the d-deer?" Kakashi nodded to Hinata's delight. "T-Thank you!" She grabbed something that looked like crackers from one of her bags and dashed off to the deer family. Kakashi watched her go and sighed.

"Ah, the young members of the Hyuga clan. They're all born to be strict and stern after all. She clearly has no backbone, but she seems to have just a bit of courage to at least defend her clan's pride. Wouldn't you agree, Sasuke?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked away. I smiled at that. Already, it seems like Hinata is being able to stand up for herself. Well, it's just a little bit, but I knew she always had some of it in her!

Huh. But, what did she mean by the Uchiha clan's "condition"? Before I could even think on whether or not to ask Sasuke, Sai came up next to me and tapped my shoulder. His face was as blank as always as he showed me a drawing. It was a drawing of Sasuke, Hinata, Kakashi, and me standing right where we were currently. It showed me protecting Hinata from Sasuke's wrath, and in the drawing, Sasuke's eyes were definitely red. Strange, but it was very detailed again and looked professional. Sasuke snatched the drawing from my hand and studied it. His eyes narrowed, and he looked up at Sai. Sai gave him a blank stare.

"You don't like it?" Sai asked.

"I don't appreciate your interpretation of me. The art's fine though." He emotionlessly handed back the drawing to Sai, who took it without emotion as well. What's up with that? "You're Sai, correct?"

"Yes. I don't belong to a special clan like Hinata, so don't worry. I'm of no threat to you, Sasuke." He put away his drawing and took out another sheet of paper. "Now, if you excuse me, I think I'll go draw a picture of Hinata and the deer." He bowed and walked off towards Hinata. She was currently cuddling with the fawn while the parents sat next to her. I bet it will come out great.

"Well," Kakashi started, "I guess that's that. Oh Sasuke, you remind me a bit when I was your age." Kakashi sighed while gazing into the sky. "Where did the time go by?" It went the minute your hair turned white is what I think. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow before he turned to leave.

"I'll go show the new students around." With that, he left towards Hinata and Sai. I watched him go and turned to Kakashi. He closed his book.

"Need something?" I placed my hands in my pockets before speaking.

"Um, about the Uchiha clan..." I paused briefly and continued. "What happened to them?" Kakashi stared at me for a few moments before turning to leave.

"You should research that bit of history on your own, Naruto." Then, he left too. I scratched the back of my head. There sure are a lot of strange things going on. I just hope we can get through all this and open the school soon. A sigh blew out from my lips, and I walked after everyone else.

After Sai completed his picture of Hinata and the deer family, which turned out amazing like the rest, Kakashi said it was time for us all to rest, so Sasuke lead all of us students to the dorms. There were twelve dorms around campus; six for the guys, and six for the girls. One of the large buildings actually housed both the dorms for both genders, but there was a large partition separating the boys from the girls in the form of a large courtyard. They were pretty spacey for no reason if you ask me, but when the school opens and gets famous again, they'll be packed with students. We went to the dorms beyond an archway labeled "Land of Fire". I wonder if all the countries are able to have dorms here? After showing Hinata to her room in the girl's dorm, us guys went to the boy's.

There was only one problem: only two rooms were available to actually bunk in.

Turns out, Sasuke ran out of materials to fix the other rooms, and after we asked, Kakashi said it would be a waste for all of us to get our own room anyway. The rooms were made to have multiples of people in it. There was one bunk bed, one single bed, and a spare futon in a closet. But, I don't want to share a room now! After some debating and bickering, Sai decided we settle this by playing rock-paper-scissors. Coincidently, Sai won, so Sasuke and I were sharing a room. Just my luck. Stupid rock!

Since we're sharing clothes anyways, it only seems fair, but I still don't like it. I decided to sleep on the bottom of the bunk bed while Sasuke slept on the single bed. Right now, the lights are off, and Sasuke's sleeping. He doesn't snore, but I can hear his even breathing. The sound of water hitting the roof tells me that it's raining. I can't sleep for some reason.

It's strange. It feels like there's something outside. There's something drawing me out there. It's this strange feeling I have in the pit of my stomach and the back of my mind. There's something out there. I can feel it.

I moaned and sat up. I'll never fall asleep this way! I guess I'll check it out. I slid out of bed and eyed Sasuke. He was still sleeping. Getting up, I creeped out of the sleeping section and headed into the second part of our room. The first part of the room is our small sleeping area, and our closets are there too. The second part is a small living area with a half kitchen, a sofa and coffee table, and a bathroom. There's also a coat rack by the door. I slid my raincoat over my tank top and shorts and grabbed my sandals. After sliding them on, I grabbed my flashlight from the coffee table, took my umbrella, and slipped out the door.

The sound of rain was still pounding the roof as I walked towards the main staircase and descended. Opening the front door, I opened my umbrella and switched on my flashlight. It was pure black out here tonight. No moon or street lamps were here to guide me. I usually have pretty good night-vision, but the darkness of this forest is something else. I'm not used to it yet. I quickly sprinted across the campus. Good thing I'm getting faster when moving around though. When I reached the main gate, the feeling inside me grew stronger. What in the world? This is getting freaky.

Kakashi finally taught me how to open the gate without setting off any of the alarms, and when I did, I only opened it a bit. I poked half my body out along with my flashlight and waved it around. Something bright red caught my light. I gasped and dropped it. Oh! Why am I acting like such chicken!? I jumped outside and scrambled ahead to pick up my light. I heard the sound of someone breathing as I got further out. Ah! I don't like this! Quickly, I jumped up from the muddy ground and flashed it again and caught the figure.

"Ah!" We both cried out in unison. I blinked at the person in front of me. The rain pelted their body. Wait, it's a boy. He had spiky, auburn hair that clung to his head due to the cold rain. His skin was fair and slightly blue looking. He wore a maroon shirt with dark brown pants and a slim, gray belt around his waist. He had a strap and holster on his back along with some strange pot. No, wait, was it a gourd? He slowly opened his blank-ringed eyes and showed me his teal eyes. He also has no eyebrows.

The strangest part is that I felt like I was supposed to meet him.

We stared at each other in the pouring rain for a couple moments. I cautiously opened my mouth.

"Why are you here?" He looked like he was my age. He stared at me more before answering. His voice was a little gravely, but you could hear the youth in it.

"Something inside me told me to come here." Okay. This is way to freaky. I grinned lightly despite the mood and lowered my light to the ground.

"Funny. Something inside me told me to come out here." His eyes widened, and my smile dropped. Should I've told him that? It's weird. I feel like I can trust him for some odd reason.

"Who are you?"

"Naruto."

"Gaara." Gaara. I've never heard of him before. A sudden shiver rose through me, and I sneezed. Gah! I've been out here to long! I better get back inside. Rubbing my nose, I gazed at Gaara. He looked cold, wet, and alone. I can't just leave him here.

"Do you want to come inside?" Gaara looked at me and behind himself then back at me.

"I think so." I shrugged off my raincoat and handed it to him. He needs it more than me. He nodded in thanks and put it on. After closing the gate and putting the alarms back on, we walked across the campus under the umbrella together. As it turns out, we're also the same height, so we had no problems. A strange yet friendly silence hung over us while we walked back up to my room. I guess I'll tell Kakashi about Gaara tomorrow. After getting inside, I heard Sasuke still sound asleep and turned to Gaara.

"You must be soaking wet. Take off all your clothes. I'm sure any of mine will fit. You can take off your underwear too. I have an unopened pack of them you can use."

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem." Honestly, I was soaking wet too, so I went in the bedroom and got clothes for us both. After getting them, I went back and found Gaara taking off his pants. He looked a bit thiner than me. How long had he been traveling? He looks kind of sick. I gave him tan t-shirt and brown sweatpants while I had a orange, long-sleeved shirt with black sweatpants. It's a good thing I packed a lot of clothes. We were just in the middle of changing when Sasuke came into the room.

"Naruto, what are do-" He saw Gaara and stopped just short. Gaara and I exchanged looks, and I looked back at Sasuke. He stared at us and then at the clothes at the ground. He cocked his head and looked back at me. "I'd ask if you were screwing around with your boyfriend, but he looks too good for a moron like you, so I'll just who he is." My jaw dropped. Did he just say that!?

"Huh!? No! Gaara's not my boyfriend! What would make you think-wait! Never mind! I don't need to know." And just yesterday, he commented on the things that ran through my head. Sasuke smirked at me with humor. Don't tell me he was playing with my head again. He's the worst. I shook my head while Gaara finished changing and approached Sasuke.

"My name is Gaara."

"Sasuke. So, what brings you to Yuniti High, Gaara? More importantly, why are you in our dorm room?" I cut in after putting on my shirt.

"I found Gaara outside the gate. I brought him in since it was pouring hard." Sasuke gave me a confused look.

"It's like 3 AM. What were you doing outside the gate this late at night, Naruto?" Uh oh. I wonder if I should tell him? No, I can't! It's between Gaara and me. Plus, Sasuke might find it weird. Ah man! What do I do!?

"I sent him a message." We both turned our heads to Gaara. He looked calm and collected. What does he mean by that?

"A message?" Sasuke questioned. "How?" That's when I felt it. I felt a strange, ticklish feeling touch my lower, right arm. I slid up my sleeve and saw them. Tiny particles were covering a part of it. Sasuke leaned closer to look as they assembled. The formed the words "Come to the gate please." on my skin. Oh, so this is what he meant. Sasuke touched them in curiosity.

"Sand? But, how?" We both looked at Gaara, who stood still despite being able to do this cool trick.

"I use an advanced nature kekkei genkai that involves magnetism. Basically, I use my chakra to control sand. It's a natural ability for me, but it's useless against water. Since it was beginning to rain, I made my sand move across the forest quickly to find someone. It found Naruto, and I followed. When I was at the gate, I gave Naruto this message, and he came for me." Gaara looked at me. He looked almost grateful. "Thank goodness too. I'm very weak and almost out of chakra."

"Wow. That's something else. Way to go, Naruto. You lead outsiders to our location perfectly." I flinched. He interpreted it like that!?

"Sasuke! Lay off! You just heard him, right? He can use chakra! He can join our school too." Gaara looked slightly confused.

"School? Is this that "Yuniti High" you said earlier?" Sasuke and I nodded.

"Yes, it is. We're a ninja school. Do you want to join, Gaara? Well, can you even join?" Gaara didn't speak for a few moments and looked down at his gourd. It was a large, tan gourd with cracks all over it and a cork on top. Strange black symbols were on it too.

"I kind of ran away from home, so I guess." Huh!?

"You ran away!?" I gazed at him. "Why?" Gaara looked at me levelly.

"I said "kind of". My whole family hates me. They won't miss me." Now that he was more dry, I noticed that the word "love" was etched into the upper rightpart of his forehead. His whole family hates him? That can't be true.

"I can believe that." Gaara and I looked at Sasuke. His face was blank as were his eyes. "Even a father can hate his own child." I clenched my fists.

"That's not true!" Sasuke blinked and looked at me. I stepped back and looked at both of them. "A father should never hate his child. If he does, he is no father. Gaara, even if you think your whole family hates you, which I think is totally not true since I know someone must love you, you have the people around you to give you compassion and care." A pained looked crossed his face.

"Idiot, what people? Everyone in my land hates me. They think I'm a freak because of my abilities. A monster."

"Then make them love you!" Gaara blinked.

"Make them...love me?"

"Yes! Show them you're not a monster. Show them where they're wrong. I was in your position too, believe it or not. I was the only kid at my orphanage that no one would play with. No one adopted me. I was so lonely." I huffed as the painful memories surfaced. It's been so long since I've thought of this. "The kids made fun of me. They stole my toys, forgot to leave me food to eat, and isolated me. The adults ignored me. It was really suffocating. Then, when I became a tween, I was a prankster. I thought that just having people see me was enough, but I was wrong. That's when I finally met someone. He was a nice guy and became my only friend at first. Then, I became friends with the orphanage director and the littler kids that lived there. People finally saw me. People finally cared." I smiled at Gaara. "Gaara, you're not alone. Trust me. I'm here for you now." Gaara stared at me for a couple moments. The air grew lighter with every passing moment.

"Thank you." I stared at him. "Thank you, Naruto." I scratched the back of my head and chuckled.

"It's no problem. You can just consider me your first friend!" Gaara actually broke out a small smile while Sasuke gave me a sad-looking stare.

"You carry a lot of baggage, huh, Uzumaki?"

"Heheh. Yeah, my bad." He shook his head and gave me a slight smile. It looked so sad on his face.

"No, it's fine. We all carry some. Trust me." I stared at Sasuke. Could this have to do with his clan? He turned to Gaara. "You can consider me your second friend if you want, Gaara." A grateful looked filled Gaara's eyes again.

"Thank you, Sasuke." Sasuke waved it off.

"It's whatever, really. By the way, you said you were hated across your whole land. Where are you from anyway?"

"I'm from the Land of the Wind. I lived in the Sand Village." Never heard of it.

"Really?" Sasuke looked surprised. "If I remember right, it's like a three day hike from there to here, right?"

"Just about. Yes." My jaw dropped. What!?

"Three days!? Geez, Gaara! What are you made of!? Steel!?" A slightly bemused looked filled Gaara's face.

"As a newly enrolled ninja student, I should let you know that the ninja of my land crossed our deserts many times in less that to war with the others." Oh, whoa. Sand ninja are tough cookies. Sasuke and Gaara shared a look and looked back at me. What? Was it something Gaara said?

Wait. Hold on! My jaw dropped. Did he say what I think he said!?

"And, yes, Naruto. I did say I'm enrolling here." I jumped up and cheered. Alright!

"Sorry, the idiot's a bit slow sometimes." Huh? Hey! Sasuke! "So, Gaara's sleeping with us?"

"Yeah! He can sleep on the top bunk if you want." Gaara face contorted at that. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry if sounds selfish, but can I maybe get the bottom?"

"Huh? Of course! But, why?"

"I like being closer to the ground. It makes me feel more secure. It's also my style of fighting in a way." Sasuke nodded at that.

"Makes sense. He may be from the Land of the Wind, but his sand probably works better on the ground. It's probably easier to use for him." I thought of that for a while before replying.

"Huh. Okay then! Come on, time to sleep!" I finally feel tired, and I just want to feel my bed again. After moving my blankets from the bottom to the top, we got Gaara blankets and called it a night. I climbed to the top and snuggled into my pillow. I heard Gaara get down into his and waited a while before looking. He was fast alseep. He must of passed out. Sasuke and I exchanged looks across our beds and shrugged together. He must of been really tired. I placed my head back down on my pillow. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.