Part 1: A Prince and a Witch

I could feel everyone looking at me but I was used to it. One thing my Father taught me early and often was to act like nothing moved me. When you're special, like we were, people were bound to notice.

It was the last month before the end of ninth grade. The substitute teacher was giving out ballots for the spring dance court; something I'd normally thought was lame. "Hey Sasuke, your name's on this."

My friend Neji Hyuga flicked my arm.

"No duh,"

When I turned Neji way, the girl next to him –Pno or maybe Ino-looked down.

Huh. She'd been staring at me.

I examined the ballot. Not only was my name, Sasuke Uchiha, there for the ninth-grade prince, but I was the sure winner. No one could compete with my looks and my Father's cash.

The sub was new someone who might still have been under the mistaken impression that because Konoha was the type of school that had a salad bar in the cafeteria and offered courses in Mandarin Chinese –i.e., a school where the serious money people in New York sent their kids-we weren't going to bust on him like public school dregs big mistake.

It wasn't like anything the sub said was going to be on an exam, so we were trying to figure out how to make reading the ballot and scratching in our answers takes the entire fifty minutes period at least most of us where. The rest were texting each other.

I watch the some who were filling out their ballots glancing over at me. I smiled.

The rest of the school body where trying to act shy and modest, like they were ashamed to be on the same ballot as me-but it a waste of breath when they obvious felt smug believing they were on the same level as me. I was pulled out of thought when Neji began speaking to me.

"Hey look my name is also on the ballot." Neji flicked my arm again.

"Hey quit your shit man!" I rubbed my arm.

"Same thing to you with that the stupid grin on your face like you already won and not only that you're giving the paparazzi a chance to snap your picture of your perfect smile."

" And that wrong?"

I grinned wider, to bug Neji even more and to also giving a little wave to the student who were shyly staring at me. Silence was interrupted by the sound of camera phone going off. As they say in life killing two birds with one stone so easy.

"You ass you shouldn't be allowed to live," Neji said.

"Why thank you." I thought about voting for Neji, just to be nice, Neji was good for comic relief, also passable in the looks department as well.

His family was nothing special thought his cousin Hisana or was it Hinata anyway her family was more wealthy then Neji something about first born, I wasn't really interested in his problem to ever really understand it all.

When I think about now it would be embarrassing if Neji came in last and was reported in the High School News Paper. And besides, Neji worshipped me.

A real friend would want me to win this contest. That another thing my Father always said:

"Don't lower yourself down to the commoner's level, Sasuke and do things out of friendship or love. Because in the end of it all you end up finding out as you run up the mountain your friends become you're weakness, they do nothing but try to hold back your potential and to bring you down to their demise."

"What about you, Dad?"

"What"

"You love…" (Me.) "Us. You're Family."

He gave me a moment's pause before saying "That's different, Sasuke." I never asked him again if he truly did love me. I knew he'd told the truth the first time.

I don't know why this memory continues to stay with me after a long period of time perhaps it was because SHE left on that day, or perhaps it was also because that was the last moment I called my Father…. Dad.

I folded my ballot over, to keep Neji from seeing I'd voted for myself. I already knew that he would vote for himself also. That's when a male voice came from the back of the class room.

"This is such a disgusting sight!"

We all unknowingly turned to the voice.

"Maybe someone left snot under his desk," Neji whispered.

"Was it you?" I said.

"I don't do that delinquent stuff anymore.

"Disgusting," the voice repeated. I stopped talking to Neji and looked at where the voice was coming from, this emo freak setting in the back.

He wore clothes that I don't even want to say it was obviously he never looked in a mirror before leaving…ugh.

He had bright red hair his skin was even stranger it was pale beyond belief it as if he has never in his life ever stepped outside in the sun before.

But what was even more noticeable about this person standing out was his face his eyes were sea foam blue they appeared as if they were the eyes of a dead person, with a heavy case of eyeliner all around his eyes and also no eyebrows…

That not even the icing on the cake, he also had a tattoo on the right side of his forehead, and all that it said was "Love!" The sub was too much of a dumb ass to ignore his very existence.

"What disgusting, Mr…Mr…"

"Sunagakure" he said. "Gaara Sunagakure."

Even his name is weird.

"Gaara, is there something wrong with your desk?"

"There something fucked up with this world that was wrong."

"…gasp...Mr. Sunagure, watch what you say in this class young man!"

He stood up as if he were the Kazekage of this school.

"Something is very wrong here were in the 21 century and the human race still continues this idiotic trivia were I can't even comprehend this type of elitist still continues even to this very day."

He held up the ballot

The students began to giggle.

"It just a ninth-grade ballot, how is that disgusting," Neji complained. "It to choose who's get to be royalty."

"EXACTLY, who are this people you speak of? Why should they be chosen to be royalty? Based upon what, Neji? The people on this ballot were chosen for one thing and one thing only-physical beauty."

"What…how..you know my name?"

Neji looked at him as if he were a deranged killer

"Sound like a good excuse to me," I said as I stood up.

"That's bull shit. Everyone in this school voted on their own behalf's we didn't force them to vote the" Physical Beauty" as you put it in your own words."

Around me there were some thumbs-ups some yeah, man particularly from Pno or Ino. But I noticed a large amount of the "Ugly" remained silent.

The boy took a few steps toward me. "There lost sheep following the herd. They vote for the so-called popular people because it's second nature to them. Surface Beauty: Black hair, black eyes"- he looked at me- "it always easy to comprehend but if someone is braver, stronger, smarter, it more difficult to see a monster in sheep clothing."

He pissed me off, so I jumped on him." If someone's so smart, they should figure out a way to blend in with "Us", it already difficult enough to see your ugly face all around "US" you could go outside and get a natural color rather then that sick dead skin you wear. You could even buy yourself acid to remover that ridicules tattoo and am guessing that permanent eye liner you have on, hell maybe the acid will make you're less ugly to see after that." I emphasized the you in the sentence so he'd know I was talking about him not just some general sort of you. "My father is the owner of News Station. He believes people like "Us" shouldn't have to look at ugly people."

"Is that what YOU think?" He raised an imaginary eyebrow. "That we all should transform our self to be as you want us to be, Sasuke Uchiha."

I was startled when his lips spoke my name. I was certain I'd never seen him before. But of course he knew me. Everyone did. Probably has a pathetic obsession on me.

"Yes,

I said

"Yes. That's what I believe. That what I know."

He walks towards me. His eyes were sea foam blue, but that was not I was looking at, his eyes looked as if he were looking into my soul seeing ever secret I had every fear. I ignored that feeling that was crawling on my spine.

"Then you'd better pray to your god, Sasuke. You're ugly now on the inside, where it matters the most, and if you ever lose your good looks, I bet you wouldn't be smart or strong enough to get them back. Sasuke Uchiha,

You. Are. Beastly."

Beastly.

The word was from another time and place I never lived. It made me re-call that certain fairy tale I've read as I child of what happened to the prince, when he angered a witch, and I felt this weird tingling sensation like the hairs on my arm had caught fire from his eyes. I brushed it off.

It was all just childish fairy tells…right?

Thank you for reading Please come again soon ^_^