Riayu: Welcome to the sequal! I'm happy because it didn't take long to get those three reviews. Extra cookies to Sye261, AkcessedImagination, and Kurotorachan for reviewing.
Sye: Let's just get this over with, I wanna see what happens.
Sharin: Right then, here we go!
Disclaimer: She doesn't own him, but it'd be funny if she did.
TO THE STORY!
A shadow moved passed and Gaara awoke with a startled jump, flying up into sitting position and staring around wildly, what he saw were his brother and sister standing beside the bench, staring down at him curiously.
"You idiot, it's Monday, you have to get on that train in twenty minutes and it's a long walk from here." Temari said, thrusting a suitcase into his lap, another one resting at her side. "Kankuro is going to help you find your way around, so be nice to him."
"Shouldn't you be at collage or something?" Temari's face flushed and she yelled something about forgetting her makeup before running off in the direction of their home. Gaara stood up, stretched, then took the suitcase that had fallen from his lap and the one sitting on the grass.
"Why'd you sleep on a bench, Gaara?" Kankuro asked, keeping a few paces away. Gaara glanced over his shoulder at his older brother and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You know I can only sleep when I see the stars." Gaara seemed slightly embarrassed by the confession; it had been a condition of his for the past five years only because he had nightmares.
"Do you ever wonder why you need to see the stars?" Kankuro asked, looking at him in something akin to concern.
"I don't know, there's something about a story in the back of my mind, a story someone told me a long time ago…" he trailed off, staring at the rising sun, his eyes burning. Kankuro accused him of being crazy just as Gaara was putting in the headphones for his Zune, cranking the volume to its max and listening to his loudest song, Sugarcoat. Thumping guitar and loud drums assailed his ears, his head spinning momentarily until he became used to the loud noises, then came the screaming. Kankuro was now beside him and could hear the music clearly, smiling to himself as his brother stared into oblivion and still managed to avoid the oncoming people. They were at a train station in five minutes, Gaara having enough sense to borrow (and by borrow I mean steal) a bike (and by bike I mean motorcycle), the platforms as crowded as the streets and sidewalks, people yelling and children screeching in pure joy, or agony. Gaara wordlessly got onto a train marked with a green five, taking a seat away from the window and leaving his luggage to be put away by Kankuro.
"Excited for your first year, Gaara?" Kankuro asked as he took the seat across from him, the purple tattoos on his face rippling as he smiled.
"Hn," was all he got from his little brother who was now listening to Thoughtless.
Sasuke was awake and dressed, waiting for his crazy brother by the front door at nine fifty. His brother came out and stared down at his little brother, a frown on his face.
"You have toothpaste at the corner of your mouth." Before Sasuke could move to wipe it away, Itachi was attacking it with a handkerchief.
"YOU'RE NOT MY MOM!" Sasuke screeched at his older brother, immediately wishing he hadn't gone there. Their parents had been dead for a long, long time in a horrible car crash. Sasuke had been in the backseat of the car when it happened and had seen the entire thin. He had seen his father swerve suddenly off of the cliff, had seen the sign break through the windshield and cut straight through his fathers gut, and had seen his mothers head go flying into the dashboard when the car hit the tree at the bottom (A/N: Always were your seatbelt!). Sasuke had suffered his fair amount of injuries; the sign that had killed his father had managed to make a hole where Sasuke's spleen was. He had been taken to the hospital and gotten fixed up, though the scars from the stitches were still on his side.
"I know I'm not your mom, Sasuke, I'm only trying to take care of you." Itachi had been made timid by the accident, he had nearly committed suicide when Sasuke didn't wake up after the surgery, he had been in a coma for three days before moving at all, and another week before waking up. Sasuke sighed and apologized before taking his luggage and opening the door and climbing into the limo that sat in the driveway. There parents had a substantial amount of money and it had been left to them so that they could take care of themselves, and they had invested a small quantity in stocks so that the amount was rising every day. They were on the train five minutes before it was due to leave and Sasuke began to search for cars that lacked people, there were none, so he took a car with two boys that looked relatively quiet, he was right. Neither of them so much as glanced at him when he put his suitcases on the rack and sat down next to the kid with red hair and massive amounts of eyeliner. He could here the kid's music though, loud and angry and depressing, the kind of music he had on his iPod. He settled into his seat and put on his music, staring listlessly into space.
Naruto was still asleep, his alarm clock chirping louder in impatience, it didn't want to do this all day. Someone pounded on the door three times, opened it, and through a packed bag at the sleeping blonde. Naruto was awake, but only barely.
"Wassup, Iruka?" Naruto asked as he sat up, the bag sliding to the ground as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned widely.
"It's ten-fifteen, your train leaves in fifteen minutes. You need to get ready." Naruto got out of bed, smacked the alarm clock to the ground to finally shut it off, and walked into the bathroom to take a short shower and brush his teeth. Iruka lived in the apartment with them because they were both going through rough times. Iruka had owned a company only a month ago, until it went bankrupt for mysterious reasons, and now he had a shitty job at Starbucks that earned him nothing more than free coffees and 7.95 an hour, barely enough for this three bedroom, two bathroom apartment. Naruto had it far worse, his parents had been murdered and he had nearly died from a deep cut on both of his thighs, since then he had been in witness protection and had just recently been relocated to this crappy city to fight for his life alongside Iruka. But he kinda liked it, the atmosphere of the apartment was always lighthearted and warm, both of the men getting along perfectly. They were also aware that the other was gay, but neither of them had any interest in the other beyond mutual friendship.
Naruto was washed, dressed, and had eaten his breakfast in record time, ten and a quarter minutes, and was running down the stairway with Iruka calling goodbye to him. Outside, the sun was shining brightly and the people were pushing and shoving their way along the sidewalks, all of them trying to get to their early morning jobs. Naruto, being a natural-born alley hunter, ducked into a dark alley with a hung-over bum leaning against a rusting garbage can and ran the length of it, turning down a second alley that head west, which was were the station was. Down two more alleys and over a chain link fence and Naruto was just outside the station, the tracks that train five would take spreading out before him as the red locomotive trundled down it slowly, steam rising like low clouds from its stack. Naruto sprinted towards it, forcing his already jelly-like legs to pump hard to make up for lost time. He grabbed at a handle and swung himself up and through the opened door, nearly knocking over one of the ticket-checkers who gave him a deep, loathing look and asked for a ticket. Naruto produced the ticket, got a hole punched in it, then went to go find a seat. The only opened one was by a small group of teenagers who were all staring at each other, then up at him.
"Uh…hi?" he got the feeling that none of them wanted him to be there, but there were three opened seats and he'd be damned if he didn't take one.
"Just sit down, dobe," a kid with black hair and black eyes and tight pants said to him by way of invitation. Naruto complied, glaring at the kid as he sat across from him. "What's with the look? Constipated?" Naruto's face turned red and he looked away, thinking, against his will, about how cute the guy was.
"Stupid teme," Naruto mumbled to himself, his gaze falling on the guy with the red hair and eyeliner. He had a tattoo on his forehead, the kanji for love, must have hurt to get it there.
"Why're you looking at me?" the guy asked when he noticed the blonde's gaze.
"Did that tattoo hurt?" he was leaning forward to get a better look. The red-head lifted his bangs so that the tattoo was completely visible and smiled, he liked this kid.
"Not really, I got it a year ago."
"Why, do a lot of people love you?"
"Nope, everyone hates me." He said it in such a conversational tone that Naruto though he might be joking, but his face showed otherwise.
"A lot of people hate me too, because I don't have a past," Naruto mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. This intrigue the red-head and he moved to sit next to Naruto.
"I'm Gaara."
"Uzumaki Naruto." He gave a big smile and they launched into a surprisingly depressing conversation about their childhoods. Sasuke didn't join in; he didn't think anyone's story could match his own, because Uchihas are always at the top.
They had been on the train for almost an hour, all of them finally introducing themselves to one another, when the train came to a screeching halt. Bags fell from their racks and people fell out of their seats, the Uchiha fell on his ass and Naruto fell on his lap, quickly getting pushed off. Yells and cusses echoed through the train's carriages as people rushed out to see what had happened, Naruto pushing his head out of a window to look up the track.
In the middle of the track were two guys dressed in black, both of them suited up like they were from Terminator or something very similar. They both wore hats and both of them were holding large guns, which they were pointing at the train. One of them yelled something to the conductor, who yelled something back. There was a long pause where the two guys held their guns higher and Naruto was able to determine that the smaller of the two was holding a rocket launcher, the bigger one holding to machine guns, a third mounted on her back. The conductor yelled again and the two guys hefted their guns and boarded the train. There were screams from the other passengers as they walked through the crowds. Naruto ran back into the car he had been in and tried to slam the door shut, but it was no use, they were right behind him.
"'S the only open car?" one of them said, his voice low and thick. Naruto and Sasuke nodded stupidly while Gaara and Kankuro just stared at the two men filling the doorway. They both sat down, one next to the other, and pulled off their hats and the bandanas around their faces. The taller one, who slouched terrible in his seat to make him seem shorter, had black hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail and navy blue eyes. His face had a smooth jaw and he had long eyelashes that seemed to swoop when he blinked. The shorter one, who sat tall, had dark brown hair that fell into his chocolate brown eyes. His jaw was also smooth, but his lashes were shorter, as was his hair, but they were both very attractive.
"Who are you guys?" Naruto asked, his voice high and tight.
"The name's Psy," the taller one said without looking up from his black bandana.
"Kohoro, what about you guys?"
"I'm Kankuro and that's my little brother, Gaara."
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Uchiha Sasuke. Why'd you guys stop the train?" Kohoro smiled and rubbed his hand on the back of his head.
"It left before we were ready, so we rushed ahead and stopped it."
"You mean your going to the school to?" Gaara said, staring at Kohoro incredulously.
"Yeah, why else would we jump in front of a train?" Psy said, looking at him like he was crazy.
"I dunno, suicide, terrorism, insanity."
"I'm the crazy one, not him." Kohoro said with a large, gleaming smile, then he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, his breathing deepening immediately.
"We didn't do nothin' illegal or anythin'. We had tickets and we didn't hurt anyone. The guns aren't even real." Psy pointed the machinegun at Naruto and pulled the trigger, nothing happened beyond Naruto flinching and Sasuke smirking. Slowly everyone settled down, Gaara sitting next to Kohoro and Naruto, Sasuke, and Kankuro sitting opposite them. As the day crept on everyone began to doze or fall into a deep sleep, except for Gaara, he was wide awake and very aware of Kohoro, who was leaning his head onto Gaara's shoulder. It was another couple of hours before the train finally stopped in front of the large school campus that would house the boys for the next few months, letting them out only for a short winter and spring break. Everyone awoke when the train lurched to a stop and they gathered their belongings, Kohoro and Psy offering to help since neither of them had any beyond their artillery.
Their luggage was put into large carts and taken to the dormitories while they were ushered to the main building where orientation was to be held. The six of them sat together in a sea of men.
"Hello and welcome to Konoha's All Boys Boarding School. I am your principal, Jiraiya." The guy had white hair and a mole on his nose and had a slightly perverted look to him from he way he stood. "This is your Vice Principal, Zabuza," he looked like he had been in a bad accident with all of those bandages on his face, "the guidance counselor, Orochimaru…"
"He screams Michael Jackson," Kohoro muttered to Gaara and Psy, who both laughed.
"The nurse, Haku…"
"He looks like a she," Psy whispered, earning more laughter.
"And your teachers, Kakashi, Iruka, Asuma, Pein, Gai, Hyate, and Kabuto," he pointed at each of them as he annouced their names.
"I think Gai is our gym teacher…his jumpsuit is creepy." Kohoro made a gagging sound and pretended to barf, making everyone laugh. Then the hall was dismissed to go to their dorms for the night, schedules were to be assigned in the morning. Kohoro, who was a very loud an animated person, was uncharacteristically quiet during the late-afternoon walk to the dorms, his eyes averted and his hands jammed into his pockets.
"Oi, Kohoro, what's the matter. You're usually yelling and making a fool of yourself." Psy came up behind him and put a hand on his friends shoulder.
"…Don't feel good." Was all he said as he shied away from his friends hand and bustled to the front of the herd to be the first into the dorms. He rushed up to the top floor and ran into the room with his name on the door, flopping onto the bed and breathing heavily. He didn't even bother to look at the sign hanging on the door to see who his roommate was; he had just assumed it would be Psy, so he was surprised when Gaara walked in.
"You ok, Kohoro, your breathing hard." That wasn't all that was weird about the smaller boy, his face was flushed and his eyes were dazed, his body covered in a thin sheet of sweat.
"Yeah…fine." His voice was high and tight, coming between puffs of air and flickering eyelids. But the highness of the voice didn't seem to be from anything out of the ordinary, the high voice sounded natural, like a girl's. Gaara walked over to the boy fighting to breath and began to unbutton his shirt to cool him down. His hand was swatted away as Kohoro took the loose fabric and bunched it up in his hand.
"I'm just trying to help." Gaara pulled the hand away and finished unbuttoning the shirt before throwing it to the side and staring down at the body that was sprawled on the bed, his eyes going wide in amazement. There were bandages wrapped around his ribs, tied in place on his left side with two metal pins. His abs were barely visible but they rippled when he breathed and his waist was tiny. Beneath the bandages were breasts and Gaara knew instantly that Kohoro was not a man.
"You can't tell anyone, ok, Gaara?"
"What's your real name?"
"You'll only get it mixed up, it's better that you don't know." She was no longer using the low, manly voice, but her own high, light one. Her face was twisted with pain and Gaara saw a spot of blood on her left breast, right below the collarbone.
"What's that?" he pointed to the rapidly growing dot.
"Stitches, they…ah…ripped." She gasped grotesquely then seemed to roll in on herself, staring into nothingness.
"Wait! No! What do I do?" She came out, but only enough to utter two words.
"Get Psy," and she was gone, completely lost inside of herself to escape the pain, the blood oozing through the bandages. Gaara ran out of the room and down the hallway to the door that he had seen Psy's name on. He didn't bother to knock, he pushed the door opened and nearly passed out. Psy stood alone in the middle of his room, his shirt of and the bandages unwound at the top so that his breasts were in plain view.
"HEY!" she wrapped a shirt across her exposed flesh, he cheeks turning bright pink and her voice no longer feigning manhood.
"No time, something's wrong with Kohoro, she's bleeding." He grabbed Psy by the wrist and dragged her from her room to the one he shared with Kohoro, who know had her eyes closed.
"Damn, the stitches tore. No wonder she was so quiet." Psy motioned for Gaara to shut the door as she untied the bandages. Gaara didn't avert his eyes when they were removed and Psy was too concentrated on the bloody smile to tell him to look away. She wiped the blood away with tender fingers. She took a length of thread and a needle from her pocket, threading the needle deftly and sticking it into Kohoro's flesh with a slight grimace. She sewed the wound shut then looked up at Gaara, who was still staring at Kohoro.
"You like them?" she asked, swiping her sweaty bangs from her face. Gaara made no reply. "Most guys don't like the scared girls." More silence. "Listen, I know your way confused right now, but you can't tell anyone, ok?"
"Why'd you guys enter an all guy's school, are you that desperate for a boyfriend."
"Listen, I can't tell you right now, but I will. Just do me a favor?" she began to wrap the bandages around her again. "Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't tear the stitches again." She wrapped up her own bandages, put her shirt on properly, and walked out of the room. A moment later, Kohoro's eyes flickered opened.
"Gaara?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell me a story?"
"About what?"
"The stars." Gaara stood there, staring down at her. "Don't you know the story?" He just stared. "Sit down and I'll tell it to you." She sat up, grunting in pain, and patted a space next to her for him to sit down.
"Well," she said, "it all started when everything didn't exist. Notice I didn't say 'when nothing existed' because then something would have been there." Her eyes shone and her breathing steady as she let her mind wander to remember the story that she had known for years. "And then there was one thing, a very important thing. And that thing was the first being…"
Riayu: And we leave off with the start of a story. Anyone wanna guess why it's about stars?
Sharin: How do you pronounce Psy?
Sye: Like my name. Why'd you let Gaara see a girl's naked body?
Riayu: It wasn't her body, it was her breasts, and because I can. Anyway, BYE!!!! Hope you like the first chapter! And cookies for EVERYONE! Review please. I suggest you don't flame simply because Sye216 will get really mad. So if you have a complaint, PM me, k?