A/N: This is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic, so please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

School Days

Chapter 1

"Gaara, this is the final time that I will intervene on your behalf. If you cause any more problems, you'll have to face the consequences on your own," the head of the Sabuku clan, Gaara's father said firmly.

Gaara stared frostily at his father, barely listening. 'As if I actually care…'

"Are you listening to me, Gaara?" the elder Sabuku demanded. "I'll be sending you and your siblings to a new town while I remain here to run the family business. Your siblings will be reporting any problems to me, and if I decide that you're once again becoming a liability, I will not hesitate to lock you away permanently."

This made Gaara pause even though it was common enough for his father to disapprove and make threats; the man was constantly trying to find a way to get rid of him. Only the thought of the family's public image would prevent him from something so obvious like having the boy killed off, but if Gaara were to do something that would give his father a good reason to punish him, nobody would blame him for locking Gaara away.

"Where will we be going?"

"Good-morning everyone."

Uchiha Sasuke braced himself as the blur of orange came hurtling down the hallway. Beside him, he could feel Neji doing the same. The Hyuuga was similar to Sasuke in his distaste for public displays of enthusiasm. Not surprising considering their similar upbringings. Sasuke sighed as the aforementioned orange blur came crashing into them, nearly knocking the two over.

"Baka," Sasuke snarled, "watch where you're going!"

"Hey, don't call me baka, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto whined.

"I'll stop calling you baka when you stop acting like one, Baka!"

"If you two would forget about your petty, foolish rivalry for one second, you would have realized that the first bell has just rung. We're going to be late for homeroom if we don't hurry," interjected the Hyuuga.

"Neji-kun, why didn't you say anything sooner? If I'm late again Bachan is going to have my hide!" Naruto whimpered before running to his class.

"It's your own fault for never waking up on time," Sasuke reminded him, smirking.

Naruto turned to say something particularly vicious right back at Sasuke (he most definitely had it coming in Naruto's mind) when he caught sight of something that made him pause - the full force of Neji's glare.

"Your immature comments only serve to make us later," he reminded his companions. And with that, all three turned into the classroom that they had somehow arrived at without even noticing.

The three companions had been close friends ever since they met on their first day at Konoha High School; Naruto had saved both Sasuke and Neji from a mob of the dreaded fan girls by helping them hide and sending the girls in the wrong direction. Ever since that day, they had come to trust and rely upon each other - Hyuuga and Uchiha through similar backgrounds and experiences; the both with Uzumaki Naruto due to his fierce loyalty and love for fun. However, don't be fooled by their constant teasing and bickering; they don't put up with anyone outside of their group giving them any grief. Students still shudder when they think about what happened to Professor Orochimaru when he began to target Sasuke. Nobody was quite sure what they had done to him, but he never showed his face at the school again.

The boys entered the classroom a total of five minutes late, stuttering out apologies to their teacher as they made their way over to their seats.

"So sorry Kakashi-sensei -" "My apologies -" "Didn't hear the bell go -"

"Ah, calm down, would you?! He's not even here yet," called a student, Shikamaru, from the back of the room. "All your noise is interrupting my nap. So troublesome…"

Flustered, Naruto chose to complain in order to distract attention from his embarrassment. "Trust that pervert to be later for class than us. He's probably in the staff room reading one of those Icha Icha Paradise novels. The idiot-"

"Maybe you should find your seat, Uzumaki, before the teacher hears you insulting him."

Naruto turned around to see who was talking, and everyone in the room sweat dropped at the sight of their teacher, smiling brightly at the front of the class, a book with a tell-tale orange cover in his hand. Sighing, the students all shuffled to find their chairs as Kakashi began to take roll call.

"So Sabuku-san, I understand that you are transferring into our school with a bit of a history following you. Your records show that you have very violent tendencies, and, as a result, I'm willing to enroll you as a student here on a probationary period only. If you manage not to get into any fights and attend all your classes for three months, you will be taken off of your probationary status and will be treated the same as all the other students. I'd like for you to know that we take the safety of our school seriously, and if I think that for any reason you endanger your fellow students, I will not hesitate to expel you. You have been warned Sabuku-san."

Ah, the wonderful welcome from the school principal, Tsunade-sensei.

And so Gaara found himself beginning a new life at a new school where nobody knew the truth about him (for his father had surely taken care to ensure that his records had been changed to reflect only a milder history). Gaara wondered how long he would be able to suppress his darker nature and keep his promise to Temari.

Flashback

Temari sighed as she looked at her brother. "Gaara, look, I know this move has been really rough on you and that our father's ultimatum didn't help, but I feel that we should really try to make the best of this situation. I mean, this is what we always wanted - freedom from the old man. I just - I just want you to promise me that you'll do your best to make a change. Please don't kill anyone here Gaara - please!"

"They all deserved it, and you know it Temari. I've never killed an innocent."

"I'm not saying that they weren't innocent, but they didn't necessarily deserve to die," she swallowed hard as she was confronted by a threatening, icy stare. "But that's beside the point. Please promise me you won't, Gaara; just do this for me."

There was a long pause as Gaara struggled hard within himself. "I'll try my best, Temari, but I can't make you any promises. You know better than most how easily I let my anger get the better of me. I can't always control myself."

"Just promise you'll try Gaara, that's all I'm asking."

"I'll try, Temari. Just for you and that lazy baka we call brother. I know what it means to you, so I'll try."

"Hey, what're you calling me a lazy baka for?!" called Kankuro from the couch.

"…" death glare

"Good point."

End Flashback

Gaara just hoped he would be able to keep this promise, to resist the nearly overpowering need to kill that had been bred into him and nurtured by the man he called father. But when the blood lust came over him, that sweet lure that sang in his heart became oh so hard to resist. It wasn't as if he always wanted to resist though. There were a few dark moments where resistance was never even considered, and he fully welcomed the blood lust, indulging in it.

Shaking his head, Gaara dislodged all thoughts of murder and followed the Principal to his first class.

"Did you guys hear about the new kid?!"

The trio had only just sat down for lunch in the school cafeteria when Naruto began talking excitedly about a new student. Despite themselves, Sasuke and Neji were intrigued; Konoha High rarely got any new students.

"Do you know what he's like?" Neji asked calmly, poking at his noodles.

"Don't know, haven't met him," Naruto mumbled.

"Why exactly do we care so much about someone we've never met?" asked Sasuke, in typical Sasuke fashion.

"B-because," stuttered a shocked Naruto. "He could become a new friend!" Naruto's main goal in life was to make as many friends as possible. He was weird like that.

"Because there's nothing better to talk about," replied Neji.

"…I think Neji has a good point," observed Sasuke.

"Hey! What about me?!" complained Naruto, banging his fist on the lunch table.

"Huh, did you say something?" Sasuke looked up, bewildered.

"Sasuke-teme, I hate you!"

"Really, how immature Naruto."

"Neji, back me up here," whined Naruto, sending puppy dog eyes over at the other boy.

"…"

"…Gee, thanks Neji," muttered Naruto sarcastically.

"…No problem."

Sweat drops all around.

"Let's go to class," suggested Sasuke, tired of the conversation.

Gaara sighed as a group of guys crowded around him, pushing him back against the lockers. Feeling cornered, he fought the urge to lash out like a wild animal caught in a trap.

"Come on new guy, why don't you show us your stuff?" jeered one loud mouth.

"Cool it guys. Look, just give us your money and anything else you have, and we'll leave you alone." A silver haired boy stepped forward, his hand stretched out expectantly.

Gaara looked at the outstretched hand, then back up at the boy, his eyes hard. He let a maniacal grin grow slowly across his face, stretching and twisting it into a frightening expression. The silver haired boy stepped back, uncertain.

The loud mouth felt a shiver go down his spine, but he quickly pushed it back. Rolling up his sleeves, he began to walk aggressively towards the strange red haired boy.

"Hey, freak, what's up with that tattoo? Did someone decide to brand you permanently as a loser?" The boy's friends all laughed at that, their courage regained and their doubts dismissed.

Gaara sighed heavily. 'It's a shame I'm not allowed to fight. Then I could take care of these fools, once and for all. As it is, if I don't fight back, they'll just keep coming back for more. Damn.'

The silver haired boy, egged on by his comrades, drew back his fist, preparing to let it fly.

"Hey, bakas, why don't you just back off? After all, you don't even know what that boy could be capable of. I, for one, wouldn't be so foolish to attack someone whose strengths I don't know. Besides, new kids don't like to cause trouble. That being said, if you're looking to pick a fight with him, you'll have to go through me first, seeing as five on one hardly seems fair."

"Hey, we're not looking for trouble. We were just making friends with the new kid here, that's all. I swear, Hyuuga-kun, that's it." The group of guys all stuttered out denials before fleeing down the halls as if their lives depended on it.

"Hey, are you okay?" Neji said, turning to the odd, small, red haired boy.

"I didn't need you to help me." Gaara replied shortly.

"I figured as much, but I thought you'd want to avoid getting into a fight on your first day, that's all. I'm Hyuuga Neji, by the way."

"…Sabuku Gaara."

"It's nice to meet you, Sabuku-san." Gaara merely nodded in reply.

A/N – I hope you liked it! If there's anything you think I should change, feel free to let me know. There's no such thing as a bad review… to a certain extent, anyway!

Edited By Beta Reader WriterGurlLW writershaven.tk