Back! :D hey hey hey! I am le TIRED DX butttt that's a good thing, cuz that's when the MAGIC happens! *O* kinda... :) ughhhh I need to go to sleep... alright, wellll this one's longer than the last one... butttt yeah :) The chapter's length is probably going to vary a lot in this one, because there's so much I want to share with yall ^^ but anywayss... Suggestions are welcome! I hope you like it!

Enjoy!

Shikamaru glanced at the unusually quiet girl beside him. It was near the beginning of school and almost everyone had already gone inside, but he and Temari continued to sit on the bench outside, staring up at the clouds. This bench… it was the very one he and Ino had sat on, when she told him about her cloud theory and her new metaphor, before… Shikamaru tried not to think about it too much, but it was hard; it hadn't been that long, and her memory was everywhere. Finally he sighed digging his hands into his pockets.

"Alright, tell me… What is it?" Temari glanced at him and sighed, also, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," she mumbled. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, letting her know that her lie wasn't the least believable. She glared at him for a second before shifting in her seat, frowning.

"Fine, it's my little brother." Shikamaru tilted his head back and closed his eyes, letting the sun warm his face.

"Gaara, right?" He opened one eye briefly to see Temari nodding her head before closing it again.

"He just came here, you know, and I'm worried about him…" Though Temari was tough and yelled a lot, she still cared. That was one of the reasons Shikamaru didn't find her so much of a drag as other girls.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he replied lazily, confidently. He had no way of knowing, of course, but he doubted anything would happen to the boy with someone like Temari protecting him. He heard Temari sigh and opened his eyes, seeing the doubt in hers. Shikamaru stood and held his hand out to her, and Temari looked up at him in mild surprise.

"If you want, any of our friends could try and help him out if he needs it." Temari shook her head and took his hand, standing.

"The thing is," she muttered, her eyes meeting his, "He's had a rough past. I'm not sure he would take it even if you offered it to him."

Naruto walked down the hall slowly, at ease. Ever since he'd gained friends, there seemed to be something… surreal, about… well, everything. It was as if nothing could get to him, not even the insults people still threw at him because of what they thought he'd done in the past.

It was strange. To think that his past was pretty far back, but all of it seemed as if it were yesterday. Just then someone bumped lightly into his shoulder and Naruto turned to see Sasuke walking beside him, staring straight ahead. Naruto grinned.

"Hey, Sasuke," he greeted cheerfully, "where's Sakura?" Sasuke grunted, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Dobe," he greeted back, "She had tutorials for school." Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Already? It's only, like, the third day of school!" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"They aren't for her, they're for Lee."

"Oh." As if that explained it all. Which, it did. They all knew their friend Lee's story, and though it was sad, he tried to make the best of it by dressing up in honor of his late father-figure and sensei Gai, though it did make him seem a little strange, more so than his personality did.

"What about Hinata?" Sasuke asked, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. Naruto shrugged and frowned.

"She said she woke up late and told me to just come here so I wasn't late. I told her I would wait for her anyway, but she seemed to really want me to just come to school without her." Naruto didn't have to say what he was feeling or thinking, as Sasuke just shook his head and sighed, giving him a slight bump of the shoulder.

"She'll be alright," he assured him, "We all know how strong she is. If it continues, you can always ask her about it. She trusts you more than anyone, you know." Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair before looking up at Sasuke and grinning.

"Alright, then! Let's get to class! Oh, hey I didn't tell you! I found out about this bug that spits acid, and-" To anyone else, it might have seemed like Sasuke was extremely bored and not listening, but only those trained to read Sasuke, such as his friends, would have been able to spot the ghost of a smile on his lips as he listened to his friend ramble on.

Hinata took a deep breath and moved her hair out of her face, trying to gather her things. She was running late, later than any other time, and she could hear Neji complaining downstairs about her taking too long. The girl glanced in the mirror and immediately looked away again, rubbing her hands over her face to rid them of any stray tear tracks. She hadn't told anyone, her brother or Naruto included, about the dreams. Nightmares, actually. They were… simple. Someone might laugh at them if they didn't know her past, why it would terrify her so much.

She shook her head and slung her bag over her shoulder, racing for the stairs. Hinata's past would always be a part of her, as would Naruto's, and Sasuke's, Lee's, Sakura's. They would never go away, and none of them could be forgotten. Hopefully, though, Hinata thought, her past wouldn't completely consume her.

Matsuri calmly strolled towards the school, letting her mind wonder. They wondered to the nice girl, Hinata, and her friend, Naruto. She was pretty sure they were dating, but they never did anything obvious like kiss in public or anything.

Matsuri couldn't get the scars on the boy's face out of her mind. All of their other friends seemed to ignore them- did they know where they came from? Matsuri doubted she would ever find out, especially if she couldn't even ask the question to him directly, and she was positive none of them learned sign language.

The small freshman let out a sigh, shifting the bag on her shoulder and the books in her arms, thinking. It was most likely a bit part of his past, she decided. But what was it? All of them seemed to have some dark secret they were keeping, something that had happened to them before.

What was it? Matsuri was grateful that Hinata had invited her to sit with them, but she felt so… disconnected. Maybe she would never find out, and she would just fade into the back ground in silence as usual. Just then she passed someone lying down on a bench and halted, tilting her head slightly. She immediately recognized him as the boy from yesterday who had picked up her notebook in the hallway, though now his eyes were closed as he lay on his back, sleeping.

His chest rose and fell peacefully, his strange red hair framing his face in a strange yet almost charming way. Matsuri blinked and glanced around before taking a step closer. Once she was almost an inch away, she hesitated before stretching out a small hand and poking the boy in the chest. She retracted her hand quickly, but the boy only shifted slightly and grumbled in his sleep.

Matsuri blinked and frowned before once again moving her hand out towards them, and this time, a bit more forcefully, poked him in the chest. Immediately blue eyes shot open and the boy sat up, glaring at her and making her jump. His eyes hardened once they saw her, and she stared back at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"What?" he snapped. Matsuri jumped a bit and pointed towards the school, then motioned to him. The boy continued to glare at her.

"Leave me alone," he growled, before getting up and leaving, grabbing his bag at the last second as he started in the opposite direction of the school. Matsuri frowned after him before turning back to the direction of the school and hesitantly continuing on, her mind going once again to the thought of her lunch… friends, and the past of that strange red- haired boy.

The entire gang sat once again in the grass at lunch, a buzz of conversation going on. Shikamaru glanced at Temari and noticed her eyebrows were furrowed in worry as she stared at the ground, her mind somewhere else. He nudged her a bit.

"Are you alright?" he muttered. Temari glanced at him and sighed.

"Yeah, just… worried." Sakura overheard this and frowned.

"About what?" All attention turned to Temari, and she sighed again.

"It's just, my younger brother isn't at school today," she explained, frowning again, "He's kind of… troubled, and he doesn't usually skip school unless…" She didn't finish, and the others didn't pry; they all knew somewhat what 'troubled' could mean.

"Hey, you're brother's a freshman here, right?" Kiba asked, and Temari nodded. Naruto frowned.

"Really? What does he look like?" Temari shrugged.

"Blue eyes, pale, red hair… he's usually wearing black or brown, for some reason…" No one seemed to notice Matsuri's eyes widen. Naruto's face turned thoughtful.

"Huh. I think I ran into him once. What's his name?"

"Gaara." Matsuri's mind drifted again to the boy from the hallway and the bench. Gaara. It fit him. It was quiet for a while before another conversation started up, and everyone relaxed a bit. Naruto turned to the small girl at his side to ask her something when he stopped and frowned.

Hinata had her arms wrapped around her knees, her eyes staring worriedly at the ground as if she were thinking of something else. He nudged her and she jumped, turning to him with wide eyes, those beautiful, wintery eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked concernedly, his sparkling cerulean eyes boring into hers. Hinata's face turned pink a bit and she nodded her eyes dropping.

"Yes, N-Naruto… I was j-just thinking…" Naruto continued to frown at her for a second before turning away, decided not to pry any further, but he did lay his hand over hers, to which she responded by leaning slightly on his side. Naruto's eyes softened. You know and helped me with my past, Hinata. Now I will do anything to help you with yours. I promise.

Soooooooo? Ya like? :D Any suggestions are welcome! :) :(: bipolar ^^ ... I really need to get some sleep... Anyhoosers!,,,,,,,,,,,, you shall find out more about Gaara's past and Matsuri's past in the near future, my friends! Or will you? o.O Who knows? Oh yeah, not me ^^ umm... oh! If there's anyone you want to be in this, any characters that I either haven't put in yet or that were in the first and haven't been mentioned so far, let me know and I shall try to put them in! :D Alrighty then? See yaaaaaaaaaaa! :D :D :D :D :D: