Sorry for the long delay! I have a lot on my mind, and loads of things to attend to. I really hope I will be able to updater faster. Pray for it! Anyway, here's chapter three:

Chapter 3-We Are Insane

.o.O.O.o.

The next day found Gaara sitting grumpily in his chair in class and glaring daggers at his teacher. The teacher, Baki, swallowed hard when he sensed Gaara's deadly aura and tried to calm the boy by smiling. Though, it had no effect on said boy at all. All Gaara could think about was how to kill Baki, so that the man would regret what he did. And what did he do? Oh he just paired Gaara with a stupid first-year girl. Fuck it all!

"So we will now begin our project. First years and third years please find your partners," said Baki and Gaara growled when a boney girl came up to him. "Hello Gaara sempai, my name is Matsuri," Gaara glared at the hand before him and said nothing. The girl drew back her hand and smiled awkwardly at him. Go away, he said in his mind but the girl didn't move, of course. "Umm, Gaara sempai, we should-" "Fuck off." Matsuri's eyes widened in shock and Gaara almost regretted his harsh words. Almost. But then he remembered that it was all her fault and he did not regret them at all. "Get lost you brat," he talked once again and watched as Matsuri stepped back, frightened. Yeah, that's right. You're afraid now, aren't you? Yeah, go, run from me… Gaara did not smile when the girl just kept staring at him. "Didn't you hear-" "I-I heard you," she mumbled and did not take her gaze away from him. It irritated him to no end. "Then fuck off already," he said indifferently. "No." he looked up and glared. Did she just say no? Who the hell did she think he was?! A fucking first year?! "Did you just say no?" he asked his voice full of venom. She trembled and stuttered: "Y-Yes I did." Gaara had nothing to say to that. She openly admitted that she defied him! What a strange girl… "I-I will not go because y-you can't run away from responsibility," she continued. Gaara didn't say anything. He just glared at her and wondered. She was brave, indeed but it might also be mere foolishness. What was it? Well he supposed he could let her stay, whatever, it wasn't his class or something. So he finally said: "Whatever." He saw her smile slightly, and sit down beside him. He said nothing, she said nothing. Gaara watched as the other students interacted with each other and thought about his bed at home. How he wanted to sleep! School was just a fucking waste of precious time and he hated it! He just couldn't understand how Naruto liked school so much! Even back at Wave, when those fucked up kids used to bully him, he was still so fucking happy to go back to school on the next day! How was that possible? Gaara knew that there was a possibility that Naruto faked his happiness but he believed he didn't. He knew Naruto and he could see through his lies, just like Tsunade if not better. And he didn't lie about being happy to go back to school.

"Umm, so… w-where do you live sempai?" Matsuri's voice snapped him back to reality. "None of your business," he retorted rudely. Matsuri didn't make another attempt to start a conversation and Gaara was tired of sitting, so he got up and left the room, not bothering to think about Matsuri or the teacher for even a second.

He found an inviting bench in the school yard so he sat down and tried to relax. The breeze was nice. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Moments like that always made him think. Back at Wave they had a lot of days like these, full with sunshine and the view of the ocean. Konoha was a beautiful place indeed, full of trees and flowers, but he would need more time to feel there like at home. He still thought of Wave as his home although he knew it was not anymore. Funny how he never saw his real home as home. Sunagakure was where he originally came from but he never liked the place. In fact, he hated it with every fiber in his body. Not because it was so fucking hot and dry there (it was a desert after all), he actually liked the weather, but because there was never something good for him there. He was born there, his mother died giving birth to him, his father despised him and wanted him dead (and would have done so if he could) and the only person he thought to ever love him turned out to be just a two-face bastard who hated him as much as his father did if not more. Gaara had nothing to love about that place. Feeling someone sit on the bench beside him, Gaara opened his eyes and glared at the person who dared to do such a stupid thing. The first thing he noticed about the boy was his eyes. They were amazingly pale, almost white, but it didn't look weird, and if it did then it was weird in a good way. And there was his hair-brunette, smooth and long, tied in a high ponytail. It swayed in the light breeze, dancing gracefully. And the uniform he wore, the loose white buttoned shirt, and the dark skinny jeans (he didn't wear the uniform pants) it all made him look better. Everything about the boy screamed 'EXPENSIVE' and for a moment there Gaara was reminded of the Uchiha bastard. But then again, it was, after all, a school for rich kids. Gaara decided that it was a waste of energy to glare at the boy so he closed his eyes again and ignored the presence beside him. Until the boy decided to talk to him.

"You're new here, aren't you?" he had smooth voice, low and stoic.

"And what if I am?" Gaara asked back, without even bothering to open his eyes.

"Nothing. Just wanted to make sure," the boy replied. "I am Hyuuga Neji. Nice to meet you," he pulled out his hand from his pocket and held it in front of Gaara.

"Gaara," said Gaara and opened his eyes to examine the boy. Neji smiled and it made him frown. He didn't bother shaking the other boy's hand. Neji put his hand back in his pocket and looked away. "Not the friendly type, are you?" he noted with a slight smirk, not really talking to Gaara but rather to himself.

"You got a problem with that?" Gaara asked indifferently, not the slightest effected buy Neji's statement. Neji shook his head. "Not at all," he answered, "I was merely asking." Gaara glared at him but Neji didn't seem to notice.

"Are you the Uchiha's friend?"

"And what if I am?"

"Tell him to prepare his coffin," said Gaara and an evil smiled crept up his face, his voice filled with venom. "I am soo ready to kill him…" and with that said he got up and left a stunned Neji to sit there by himself.

XXXXXX

Naruto put his Biology book back inside his schoolbag and left the already empty classroom. He was always the last to leave because he had a habit of going over what he wrote during the lesson. He always did that but he wasn't sure if it was much of a help. He was an excellent student in general but he put a lot of effort to become one. It didn't come to him easily so he had to study hard to remain and excellent student. He ran to the cafeteria and found out it was already crowded, as expected. He was the last to leave after all. He took his lunch tray and searched for his brother and sister. They were nowhere to be found so he sat alone near one of the round cafeteria tables. People still stared at him. But that was expected since it was only his second day of school and he was new in Konoha. Though he couldn't help but hope that they would stop staring at him. He was definitely nervous. Luckily, Gaara decided to show up at last and sit down in front of him.

"Where have you been?" Naruto asked, a little worried. Gaara shrugged. "Outside," he answered, not bothering to elaborate. He eyed Naruto, as if wanting to say something, but then decided against it and slowly began to eat. Naruto let him eat in peace and instead of talking, he scanned the cafeteria hall. For some reason his eyes searched for a certain raven-haired guy. He couldn't find him. Around the table of the 'popular' kids sat only Sakura, a pale eyed boy and a pale eyed girl. He was disappointed.

"You're doing it again," Gaara's voice brought him back to reality. Naruto looked confused. "What?"

"Stop looking for the bastard," said Gaara, indifferently. "You always look for him, search for him. Do you so easily forget what happened?" Naruto looked away. Gaara was right, of course. What happened… he didn't want to be reminded and yet he could not forget it. It didn't hurt anymore, not like it used to, but upon seeing Sasuke again… Naruto sighed deeply. He should stop thinking about Sasuke. The Uchiha was back again, true, but it didn't mean that his feeling were too. But it was so hard! Yesterday, when Sasuke stood so close to him at the end of class, Naruto almost forgot how to breathe, and his mind screamed.

"He's not here today, anyway," he finally replied.

"Why do you sound so disappointed about it?"

Naruto turned to look Gaara in the eye. "Because I can't help it!" he nearly screamed. "I can't help it! He talks to me, and looks at me and stands so damn close to me, and he even goes as far as to invite me to sit with him and his friends! I can't help it if he does all that! I can't help feeling disappointed, wanting to see him, wanting him to…" tears were already streaming freely down his cheeks when he stopped. Gaara's glare softened and he silently handed the boy a tissue. Naruto took it without a word a little too aggressively, and wiped his eyes and nose. "I don't want you to cry again because of him. He isn't worth your tears," he said after a moment of silence. Naruto nodded but remained silent.

"Where's Ten-Ten anyway?" they both turned to look for the girl. "Over there," said Naruto and pointed toward a bunch of boys who sat in the far end of the hall. Ten-Ten was among them and it seemed that she was doing pretty fine. "I hope she won't get in trouble," Naruto murmured. They turned back to their food but not for long. Several minutes later something broke the peace. "Someone's fighting over there!" cried a boy and in mere seconds the whole cafeteria was on its feet. Gaara paid no mind to the brawl that was going on and simply kept eating his food carelessly. Naruto, on the other hand, was curious. Back in Wave he often was the victim of such brawls and fights. There was always a kid or two whom, for some reason, didn't like him so they agreed on beating the shit out of him. He wondered who it could be this time. And then he saw a flash of two buns and he paled. "Isn't that… Ten-Ten…?" at his words, Gaara's head snapped up and he looked at Naruto for a moment before turning his attention to the fight taking place in the far end of the cafeteria. "That's our little sister indeed," he said and smirked. "Such a good girl…!" Naruto shot him a glare before rushing over to where Ten-Ten was. It was indeed Ten-Ten and she was punching one big guy's face really hard. "Ten-Ten stop it!" he yelled but Ten-Ten didn't listen. She kept on punching the guy. "Ten-Ten! That's enough! Stop it!" he went over to catch her arms but she shoved him aside. "No! I'll beat the crap out of him 'till he sees stars!" she screamed and moved on to kicking his legs and arms. "I think he's already seeing galaxies! Come on Ten-Ten, stop it!" Naruto yelled once more and Ten-Ten finally stopped. She turned to look at Naruto with fury. "He said we barbed our way into the school! He called us stupid orphans! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing?!" she fumed. Naruto made a step towards them but Gaara was quicker. Before Naruto could make another step, Gaara's fist already connected with the boy's jaw, and he punched him even harder than Ten-Ten did. The students watched in silence. Gaara was about to deliver another punch when Naruto stopped him. "That's enough," he said, "Leave him alone." Gaara let out a sigh but stopped. Instead of punching the boy again, he clutched the boy's shirt and smirked. "Such a shame I have to stop," he purred, "and I was having so much fun!" the boy beneath him managed to smile cockily. "Why should I be afraid of you?" he asked arrogantly. Gaara's smile widened and an almost insane look shone in his eyes. The boy swallowed.

"Afraid of me?!" asked Gaara with great amusement. "No, no, no. Don't be afraid of me! I'm just a little blood thirsty, that's all! But you see my brother over there?" and he pointed towards Naruto. The boy followed his finger and looked at Naruto skeptically. "He's fucking insane and when he's upset he goes berserk and even I can't stop him!" all the students, wondering who this scary guy could be, turned to look at Naruto. Naruto swallowed and blushed deeply. He smiled nervously and mentally cursed Gaara's stupidity. He could almost feel the students' disbelief. Someone laughed. "Umm, Gaara, I think we should go…" Gaara got up and dragged a reluctant Ten-Ten with him. "Mess with her again and I promise my brother won't be so nice," he told the boy before leaving. "And you!" he pointed at Ten-Ten who flinched and swallowed. Gaara was really scary when he was mad. "Next time make sure to castrate him! What were you thinking?! Those punches were so weak! You bring shame upon my teaching!"

"Aren't you being a little too dramatic?" She asked, smiling.

"Nothing's too dramatic when it comes to the battlefield!" he answered. Naruto rolled his eyes and Ten-Ten whispered: "definitely too dramatic." They didn't get the chance to get out of the cafeteria because at that moment Iruka decided to show up.

"What is going on in here?" he demanded, shock evident in his eyes. The boy still lay there on the floor and Iruka rushed over to his side. "What happened?" he asked. The boy only pointed toward Gaara and Ten-Ten. Iruka's eyes narrowed. "You three!" he called, "stop right there!" and they did. Naruto glared at Gaara. "Thank you Gaara's blood thirst!" he whispered. Gaara smirked and Naruto didn't like it at all. His smirks only meant trouble. And seeing how wide Gaara's smirk was, he knew his brother had something planned. Iruka walked toward them and his brown eyes where filled with anger. "What happened here?" he demanded. At first Naruto swallowed. How were they supposed to get away with this? But then he saw Gaara's smile and that was when he totally freaked out. "You see-" he began but Gaara cut him off. He turned to look up into Iruka's eyes and smiled again (as innocently as possible). "You see, "he said, "He came up to me and challenged me to a duel." Iruka stared in confusion. Gaara smirked and continued: "So I told him that I forgot my water-gun at home. I asked him if I could use his, and he said that I should use my sword. But you see, the problem was that my dear sword was stolen by the evil chipmunks from the tree in our garden so I couldn't use my sword! I told him that I don't have my sword but I could use a spoon. Really, I could have taken him down with a spoon but then my spoon would have gotten dirty. So we decided to fight with our bare hands. He thought he could beat me but he was wrong! I took him down!!! And that's how things happened! It was his fault anyway." Someone laughed but other than that, every other student struggled very hard not to. Iruka's eyes by then were mere lines in his face. He glared in suspicion. Ten-Ten gave him a wide grin. "Sensei, do you actually believe him?!" she asked, ignoring Gaara and Naruto's shocked expressions. Iruka examined her. Surely she wouldn't lie to him, would she? "Then will you tell me what happened?" he requested. Ten-Ten's smile became wider. "Sure!" she said. "This is what happened: I came here to eat lunch, an innocent little girl. I took my tray and went to sit with my friends. But then that guy showed up. He called us stupid orphans and said we barbed the Principle so we could get into this school. So I got angry, obviously. Wouldn't you feel the same way if someone called you a stupid orphan?! Huh? Don't tell me you'd just sit quietly and do nothing while someone humiliated you! What are you, a sissy?! C'mon man, you've got to stand up and fight! Be a man! I can't believe you would allow someone to say something so rude! Are you a man or not? Huh? If you're truly a man then prove it! If I were you I would've kicked that guy's butt long ago. C'mon, show him what it means to mess with you!"

"That's enough!" Iruka fumed. He couldn't believe these guys! Yesterday he thought they were ok, not too bad. But this… this was too much! First the redhead tells him exaggerated stories about some duel that obviously never happened and then this girl tries to manipulate him to punish the poor beaten up guy. "You two come with me!" he yelled and pointed at Gaara and Ten-Ten. "Detention!" the students made way for the fuming advisor to pass and Gaara and Ten-Ten followed him. "Idiots," muttered Naruto under his breath but smiled nonetheless. "See you after school!" Ten-Ten called to him and waved happily, as if being put in detention was the best thing that could've ever happened to her. Naruto returned a wave and sighed. At least he won't be going home alone.

XXXXXX

"So are you ready for your first day in the art club?" Sakura approached him, holding some papers in her hand and a bundle of brushes. Naruto smiled. "Definitely. You seem to be working hard already," he said, eyeing the things she held. "Haha, yeah, you could say that," she laughed and they started to walk.

As they walked down the halls, Naruto noticed how quiet the place was after everyone else left. Well, everyone except for the art club members and the ones in detention. The sky outside was painted gold, crimson and violet and thus the halls were also painted with the same color. It made the atmosphere more calming, full of longing. He didn't like this hour of day very much, it always made him a little sad. It could be because of the setting sun or maybe because the change itself, the change from day to night.

"You'll find that the members are very nice," Sakura said, leading the way to the club's room. "Some of them might be weird, but when you'll get to know them, you'll see that they're good people. By the way, I'm the vice president." Naruto was surprised. "Really? That's great. So who's the president?" he wondered.

"Oh, his name is Sai. I think he's the weirdest. You'll have to wait 'till you meet him."

"So you're a bunch of weird guys?" Naruto chuckled. "That's nice."

They reached a dark hall in which there were several doors, the same wooden dark doors. Sakura opened one and entered. Naruto followed.

It was quite a large room full of things, from large canvass to the tiniest of brushes. And it was messy. Three faces looked up when they entered and concentrated expressions turned into smiles upon seeing Sakura. "Sempai!" the boy, nearest to Sakura cried and got up from where he sat. "Hey Ren, how're you doing?" Sakura smiled at the boy who nodded enthusiastically. He said: "I'm great!" and then his gaze wandered toward Naruto and a blush dusted his cheeks. Sakura giggled. "Ren, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He will be joining our club from today. Naruto, this is Hanatsuki Ren," she introduced them to each other. Naruto offered the boy a warm smile. "Nice to meet you Hanatsuki-kun." Ren blushed again and mumbled "nice to meet you too," back. His beautiful chestnut eyes stared at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world and his fingers toyed with a stray strand of hair. He was clearly embarrassed. Naruto couldn't help but be amazed at the boy's beauty. There was some magic in those chestnut eyes and in that heart-shaped face of his.

"Ok Naruto. These are Akagi Yuki and Oda Aki," Sakura introduced the other members of the club. The girl, Yuki, said nothing and only stared at him passively. She held some sort of fabric in her hands and was probably in the middle of sewing before she was interrupted. The boy, Aki, dropped the charcoal he was holding and stood up. He approached Naruto and leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowed, examining him carefully. Naruto felt uncomfortable. He wished the guy would stop staring at him. Aki did stop staring but proceeded to smile and it freaked him out even more. "Hello, Naruto-sempai!" he greeted him. "You're really hot, ya know?" he noted and laughed when Naruto scowled. "Don't worry, I'm not gay," he assured him. "I just love beautiful things," he explained to the confused Naruto, "That's why I love art-it is beautiful, don't ya think?" Naruto nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. Maybe, like Sakura told him, he'd be able to like them after all.

"So now that all introductions are done I can show you around," Sakura said happily and dragged Naruto by the arm. "Come, this room is like a museum!" she claimed and Naruto followed her. She showed him all the artworks the club members did and even some of her own works. There were charcoal drawings, oil paintings, incomplete sketching and all kinds of sculptures and engravings. Naruto examined the works and thought how great it has probably been to complete a masterpiece. Someday, he thought, I'll complete my own masterpiece. A certain drawing caught his eyes and he stepped closer to look. A startled gasp almost escaped his lips because it was a drawing of "Sasuke…" he mumbled. It was Sasuke indeed, there was no mistaking, but the drawing was divided into two symmetrically halves. The right half was brighter, and despite being drawn with the same material, the shades were lighter, somehow happier. The left half, in contrast to the right one, was darker, sharper and very rough. He wondered why. Sakura stopped beside him and smiled. "You know Sasuke?" she was surprised. "Oh he's in your homeroom class, isn't he?" Naruto nodded and she smiled again. She picked up the drawing and ran a finger across it. "Why did you draw him like this?" Naruto asked, curious. Sakura gave him a soft smile before answering. "You might know the answer someday," she said mysteriously. Just then the door was opened and Sakura tugged his sleeve. Naruto turned around. The guy who entered ignored all of them completely and went to sit behind a small desk in the back of the room. Naruto's eyes widened upon seeing the guy. He looked so much like Sasuke! And yet he was completely different from Sasuke. His hair was clearly shorter than Sasuke's and just his attitude was completely different. Why the hell am I even comparing him to Sasuke? I should stop thinking about him, really… he scolded himself. "That's Sai," Sakura whispered in his ear and Naruto looked at her, quite disbelieving. "He's the president?" he asked skeptically. Sakura nodded seriously. The guy was weird indeed. He acted as if they were not there and everyone else acted as if he wasn't either. What kind of president was that? And what kind of club was that? And also, Naruto couldn't help being amazed at the similarities between Sasuke and that guy, Sai. "He looks like-" he began and Sakura cut him off. "Sasuke?" she asked, knowingly. "Well, that's probably 'cause they're cousins," she said. Naruto nodded. That was logical. "So he's Uchiha?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "Of course he's an Uchiha!" she said. "Everything about him screams Uchiha! Geez, those idiots are all 'high-and-mighty' it's amazing!" but she wasn't angry. In fact Naruto heard affection in her voice when she said those things. She's probably very close to them, to Sasuke, he thought, a tint of jealousy stinging him. "Come," she suddenly said and dragged him again. "I'll introduce you to our dear President." And with that said Naruto found himself in front of the weird Uchiha, waiting for the guy to look up. "Sempai," Sakura said, making the guy look up. His eyes were two dark emotionless pools and Naruto could see even better the similarities between Sai and Sasuke. "Meet Uzumaki Naruto. He's a new member." Sai's eyes examined Naruto from head to toe and after several long seconds he finally smiled. Naruto cringed. What kind of smile was that? It was so obvious that it was fake. It hurt a little to know that the guy's smile wasn't true but then again, Naruto somehow knew that it was not personal. He probably doesn't even know how to smile truly, he thought, not knowing how right he was. "It's very nice to have you in our club Naruto-kun. I hope you enjoy your days here," Sai said in a monotonic voice. "Yeah, thanks," Naruto smiled nervously. Sai was completely back into his work, ignoring them again. Sakura gave him a small awkward smile.

"You'll get used to him," she said when they finally left. "Most of the time you won't even notice he's there 'cause he never interferes with us. He keeps to himself and we keep to ourselves, that's how it's been going since he became the President."

"Then, how did he become the President? I mean, shouldn't a president be more social? I don't know… a bit more…friendly? He is the president after all," Naruto asked with great confusion. Sakura laughed at that. "Indeed," she said, "But Sai isn't your usual guy, as you saw. He became the president because he's a genius painter and besides, he does fulfill his duties as a president in his weird way. We can't have everything we want so we manage with what we have."

Gaara and Ten-Ten were already waiting at the gates when they went out of the building. Ten-Ten waved at them and Naruto returned the wave.

"Sakura-san, these are my brother and sister, Gaara and Te-Ten," he introduced them. "Guys, meet Haruno Sakura, she the vice president of the art club." Gaara nodded and Ten-Ten greeted the other girl happily. "So Sakura-san, you're going to be an artist when you grow up?" she asked the older girl. "No," Sakura answered truthfully.

"No?!" Naruto repeated. "But you're in the art club and you're amazing!" Sakura blushed a little. "Yes but it's only a hobby I'm focusing on while being in high school," she said.

"Then what do you want to be?"

"I want to be a doctor, just like the famous doctor Tsunade, and help people."

Naruto, Ten-Ten and Gaara stared at each other for a long moment before Ten-Ten burst out in laughter. Sakura was utterly oblivious as to why wanting to be a doctor was funny. Naruto sensed that she was uneasy so he quickly calmed her down. "Don't mind Ten-Ten," he said and sent a glare toward his sister. "She's only laughing because of the coincidence." Sakura looked at him, puzzled. "Coincidence?" she asked, looking from Naruto to Ten-Ten and back to Naruto. He nodded and smiled. "Yup, the coincidence. Tsunade is our mother," he explained and was pleased to see the understanding dawning on Sakura's face. "Oh…" was all she managed to say before blushing deeply. Ten-Ten let out a giggle and took Sakura's hand. "You want to become a doctor like our mother?" she asked. Sakura gave her an embarrassed smile. "She's a great doctor…" she mumbled, her cheeks burning.

"Hey! Tell you what," Naruto suddenly said and his eyes sparkled in excitement. "Why don't you come to our house? You can meet our mother!"

"That's a good idea!" Ten-Ten added, all too excited.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, hesitant. "I don't want to bother you all…"

"Bullshit! Come on, it's your dream, right?"

And as the bus arrived Sakura thought if it was indeed a good idea to agree. Oh well, who cares? She was going to meet her idol so it was worth everything!

.o.O.O.o.

The 3rd chapter is here, finally! (indeed). I know it took me long but you've got to understand me. After a long wait I finally received the recruiting letter from the Army. Something went wrong and instead of receiving it at the age of 17 I received it one year later. Oh well, at least I got it now! Anyway, I know it's not the best chapter but please bear with me!