Koji and Shira

After finishing my morning meditation, I waved Shukaku goodbye and left. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room.

A couple of stretches and a shower later, I put on some clothes. These garments came from the village's best designer, and of course, were made with extreme comfort and durability in mind.

I wore a simple, black short-sleeve shirt, coupled with some baggy pants and black sandals similar to the original Gaara's. After putting these on, I wrapped bandages around my forearms and legs.

Underneath my shirt, I wore light, ninja-style chainmail armor. It was skin-tight, and the sleeves reached a bit further than the shirt I wore on top, clearly visible.

This light armor was also of good quality, it was Yashamaru's gift for my thirteenth birthday.

Feeling fresh, I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Damn… All that training really did pay off. Compared to my past life, it's like heaven and earth."

All that physical training had awarded me with a defined body even at my age. When turning around, I could clearly see my muscle's definition.

"Heh, look at me, aren't I a hunk?"

As I was flexing and looking at myself in the mirror, the door opened abruptly and Yashamaru's voice made it's way to my ears.

"Gaara, it's almost time for the graduation exam, come on, let's have breakfast. I… Oh, sorry for disturbing."

Yashamaru smiled awkwardly as I stood there, frozen in front of the mirror, with my arm raised, flexing my bicep.

"It's not what you-"

Not letting me finish, Yashamaru closed the door as fast as he opened it, leaving me there, still frozen.

"Sigh… He caught me red-handed. Whatever, let's go have breakfast. Somehow I can already hear that Tanuki laughing hysterically."

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Sometime later, Yashamaru and I arrived in front of the academy gates. Like the first day, there were a bunch of parents discussing in a corner as their kids entered the academy. Although they aren't very sociable, they're not scared of me anymore.

"Well, if they were still scared of me after thirteen years of being a good kid, it would be just unfair…"

"Gaara-Kun, you said something?"

"Ah, no Yashamaru, forget it. I was just thinking out loud."

Smiling with confidence, I made my way inside after saying goodbye to Yashamaru. As soon as I entered the familiar hallway, a loud and vigorous voice assaulted my ears.

"GAARA! GOOD MORNING!"

Turning my head in his direction, I saw the always energetic Shira, running towards me. Although we were both of the same age, he was quite a bit taller than me.

Being only able to use Taijutsu, this guy, like Lee, only knows how to train every day. I have to make time for studies, ninjutsu training, meditation, tutoring, and many more things.

Although it's completely normal for him to be so buff, I'm still a bit jealous.

"What's up Shira, ready for the exam? If you fail that would be hilarious."

"Oh come on Gaara, don't make such jokes. There's no way that I'll fail, thanks to you convincing your dad to change up the rules a little."

"Heh, don't thank me. It was abnormal for those rules to exist in the first place, I only used a few connections, nothing too difficult."

Smiling, Shira placed his hand on my shoulder and raised his fist with determination.

"Either way, you have changed my life. I promise to always be your follower and right-hand man when you become Kazekage."

Smirking, I removed his hand from my shoulder looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Right-hand man? Start by lasting more than five minutes when I'm serious."

"Sure sure, you still can't beat me in Taijutsu though. Oh, isn't that Temari and Kankuro-san?"

Both of them suddenly arrived and greeted Shira with a smile before turning towards me. Well, only Temari was smiling, Kankuro looked more annoyed than anything.

They both looked exactly like in part one, with the same clothes and everything. They both already had headbands, symbolizing their status as ninja.

"Good morning Gaara, your brother and I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you in advance. You're finally going to become a ninja, isn't it exciting?"

Kankuro opened one eye while placing his hands behind his neck in a lazy fashion before murmuring something.

"Well, more like she dragged me he-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Temari hit him right in the ribs with her elbow, making him churn.

"Ahem, what Kankuro means is that he's proud of you, Gaara. Let's eat out once you graduate okay? My treat! I just came back from a mission and my wallet is full. You can bring Shira-kun over if you want."

At her words, Shira's face lit up and he started drooling. He then turned towards me and made a pleading expression.

"How troublesome… I guess it won't hurt."

"Awesome!"

Both Shira and Temari both looked satisfied, while Kankuro still clenched his sides in pain, letting out an unenthusiastic… 'yaaay.'

With that, both of them left, leaving me with Shira.

We relaxedly made our way to the class. Oh, I forgot to mention that with hard work and dedication, Shira managed to enter class A. So I have to put up with him even there. Life is unfair sometimes…

Opening the door, everyone except for the teacher was there already. The twins, the puppet guy, the shy kid, and that annoying blonde who always looks at me from the corner.

The only one missing was that haughty and stupid kid. Sometime last year, he had been replaced by Shira, who was doing better than him in both training and studies. Now he's in class B… Sucks to be the guy.

"Greetings, Gaara-Sama."

Making his way over from his seat, was Koji. The kid who could somehow sense Shukaku's chakra, even though it lies dormant inside of me.

As for why he's talking to me so respectfully, it's because, over the years, we have become friends. Apparently, he likes reading books as much as me, and we often meet in the library. Sometimes we even exchange pointers and notes.

He turned out to be an incredibly smart guy. He always gets top grades when it comes to exams, even surpassing me a little.

In the beginning, he was reluctant to show his skill in fear of being targeted by others, but with my protection, he's alright. Ever since then, he calls me Gaara-Sama and sticks to me like a bodyguard.

So basically now, I have two annoying servants called Koji and Shira. It's easy to see why I like spending time alone.

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An: What do you think of this chapter? Its a surprise release, and it was meant to be part of the last one, but I had no time.

I'm going to try to build up the other characters around Gaara more, hope you like it.

Tahnks for reading.