Wednesday was an unofficial holiday, due to the fact that someone had accidentally left a dent in the cafeteria wall and several cafeteria staff were in therapy (Naruto and Sasuke's doing). And, not only that, since Gaara's father now knew of his antics, he was allowed to come and go as he pleased. So, basically, the whole day was theirs.

Naruto awoke slowly to the feel of feathers. How strange, he thought, to be awoken by feathers. Strange…feels good…kinda…ticklish…

Naruto started to wriggle and writhe, laughing. "Stop it, stop it!"

He heard a giggle. "Naruto's ticklish!"

The feathers stopped, and Naruto opened his eyes to see Sasuke smirking and Gaara smiling.

"How'd you get into my house?"

"It's not that hard, Naruto. You leave your door unlocked." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"It smells in here!" Gaara noted.

"How'd you know I lived here?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you know," Sasuke said quietly. "The villagers."

Naruto bit his lip at the thought of what they might have said about him and swung his legs over the side. "Well, whatever. I gotta get dressed." He checked his clock. "Gah! It's only seven!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Gaara found out where I lived and woke me up. You know, he's so eager to play. He said he couldn't sleep again."

Naruto nodded solemnly. They'd found out the truth about Gaara, but they didn't share their knowledge with him. What good would it have done? It would be better to act as if they knew nothing.

Gaara laughed. "Ah, sorry. I was just excited. What should we do today?"

"We're going to go out to breakfast," Naruto said.

"Where?" Sasuke asked.

"A place that's good for the whole family. It's feeling good in the neighborhood!"

"Applebee's?" Gaara asked, skeptical.

"Nope."

Half an hour later, they arrived at Ichiraku ramen. Naruto had insisted that Sasuke pay for their meals. Sasuke reluctantly agreed, because Gaara had no money and he couldn't trust where the delinquent Naruto had gotten his.

Aw, little Sasuke loves his friends!

I do not! Sasuke shouted in his head.

You so do. Kill them, Sasuke, kill them.

That's it. You guys are going in my Death Note.

But, technically, we're you, Sasuke. Voices in your head. Instead of a heart attack, you'll have a brain attack!

Pfft! Good one, Jeff!

"I do not have voices in my head!" Sasuke shouted. Gaara and Naruto stared at him.

"That's good for you," Naruto said. "Now, Sasuke, give me 1000 yen."

They ate their ramen happily, munching not only on food but Sasuke's precious money.

Upon leaving the stand, they had a whole morning together, then lunch, then the afternoon. There were so many possibilities, Naruto felt overwhelmed.

"We could build a fort! Make a secret pact to be friends forever! Or, or, play ninja! I could a Hokage, Gaara could be Kazekage, and Sasuke could be the rowdy Academy student we like to beat up!"

Sasuke glared. "That's idiotic. And a pact to be friends forever sounds kinda…well…girly."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Hairstylist," Gaara teased.

"Wha-at! Shut up!" Sasuke brought his fist down onto Gaara's head, as he meant to boink him. But, his hand never connected. Well, it did, but not on the cushioned hair of Gaara's head, but the dense, grainy substance called sand.

It had, seemingly supernaturally, sprouted from the ground, covering Gaara's head like a shield.

Sasuke was speechless. So, this is what the Kazekage was talking about, Sasuke thought.

It gets worse than that.

Shut up, I'm not talking to you.

Technically, you're thinking.

Itachi Uchiha…hit by a bus…8:12.

Wow, you're so hilarious. You should be a comedian.

I could be a ventriloquist, and you could be my dummy.

That's your worst joke ever, Sasuke.

Gaara was making a weird noise. It sounded between that of embarrassment and fear. No doubt he was thinking, now they know! They'll hate me for sure! I must be so scary!

Sasuke realized this, so he decided to laugh it off, and said, "So, this is what makes you feared? You kidding? It's awesome."

Gaara was more than a little surprised. "But, I'm dangerous."

"You haven't done anything so far," Naruto reminded him.

"No, you don't understand…" Gaara pouted. "It gets worse."

That's what she said, Sasuke thought, meaning Itachi.

Sasuke, you're not cool, no matter how hard you try. So stop.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, and Naruto looked back. Should they say anything?

Sasuke's gone soft.

Was he ever tough?

Good point.

"Gaara," Sasuke muttered, "We know about you. Your father told us."

"What?"

And so they told Gaara of their little adventure in the principal's office.

"What!" Gaara said. "Oh no, you know! You must hate me!"

"We found that out yesterday," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you think we'd have told you by now if we cared?"

"You mean, you don't?" Gaara asked, astounded.

"Nah!" Naruto said. "But, we would care even less if you played ninja with us."

And so came the waterworks.

While they comforted Gaara, they were unaware of a presence above the Adult Novels store, looking down on them with interest. No, it was not Kakashi or Jiraiya, but someone evil.

Itachi!

Haha, no, it's not me. I'm too busy partying with Kisame to hang out above pron shops.

No, he was a little less evil that that. It was…

The Fourth Kazekage!

What did he want, and why was he watching them?

"Heh," he said to himself. "Even Gaara is forgetting the most important part of his curse." He smirked. "Tonight is a full moon!"

"Dad," said Kankuro behind him, "Why are you talking to yourself? Can we please go home?"

"Yes," the Kage said. "I'm done here."

"Ok," Temari said. "You're not weird at all, Dad."

"Hellz yeah, bitch."

To be continued….

-

Heh. Heh. Hahahahahahahah! That's so hilarious to me! I love Death Note. L's cooler than Kira, though. Misa would be cool, if she wasn't such a puppy to Light.

Ok, so the day is not over yet. There is a full moon ahead! Oh noez!