This is something I've had sitting on my computer for a while, and I figured I should post it since I haven't been posting much lately. Why the hell not, you know?
Basic summary: high school AU, oneshot, Naruto, Gaara, Sakura, Kankuro, and Sasuke in detention.
Gaara walked through the halls of the high school, his ear buds in and his music just loud enough to drown out the meaningless talking of the other students.
He wore his typical Converse, coupled with black cargo pants with a silver chain stretching from the belt to one of the pockets. Since it a Monday and in the middle of the school year, Gaara had decided to wear one of his favorite shirts in the fleeting hope that it would make the day pass more bearably: a black crew-cut shirt with the words "I have a monster in my head" printed in red at the bottom edge, wrapping halfway around his waist in a color reminiscent of blood, and then repeated in white over the rest of the shirt. Since the weather was colder than what Gaara was used to, he had also donned a black zip-up sweatshirt, currently unzipped, with a skull and crossbones emblazoned on the back, hidden at the moment by the black backpack Gaara wore slung over one shoulder containing the bare minimum of supplies he had needed for his classes.
He was well aware of the other students commenting on his piercings; after all, most of the boys in the school didn't have three silver rings going through each ear. The silver metal only contrasted with the necklace that Gaara wore; it was nothing but a black cord that wrapped around Gaara's neck. It was a memento from the teenager's sister, who had gone off to college, which was the only reason why Gaara wore the thing.
Of course, those people could also be talking about the strange phenomena that were Gaara's features; namely, his lack of eyebrows and pupils, as well as the crimson tattoo over his left eye and the black rings that surrounded both of his eyes that Gaara had had since birth. The tattoo was the kanji for "love", a mark that Gaara had gotten a little over five years prior, when he was still in middle school, with the help of his somewhat dubious older sister.
He still found the tattoo appropriate, even as a senior in high school.
Even as time passed the people in the school never stopped talking about Gaara's appearance, especially his crimson hair, but whenever Gaara was in sight they either stopped or talked in quiet whispers, which was fine with Gaara. He couldn't care less.
At this point, however, everyone in the school save the people that weren't in any of his classes were well aware that avoiding Gaara was the best thing to do, and even if they weren't aware at first they got the hint quickly. He had the indescribable ability to intimidate someone with nothing but a fleeting glance, and every student was aware that when Gaara was angry, they should run far and fast.
Since Gaara's father was also the principal of the school, most of his violence went unpunished. This did not mean that father and son had a good relationship; far from it. To an outsider, Gaara and his father might as well have been strangers, despite the uncanny resemblance between the two.
As it were, Gaara's lack of pupils made his gaze all the more unnerving and the fact that his features were permanently set in an emotionless state only worsened that impression.
When that emotionless mask cracked and he smiled, bad things tended to happen.
At the same time, Gaara never really went against his teachers. He was extremely intelligent, as his grades reflected, and while he almost never participated or spoke in class he remained one of the smartest students. He only suffered in the area of group projects where his partners were too terrified of him to actually be of any help.
The only other senior that was willing to be alone in the same room as Gaara was Kankuro, Gaara's older brother. Since Kankuro had been held back one year, he was in Gaara's grade. There was little love between the two brothers, as Gaara showed little to no affection for anyone related to him. In fact, he formed no relationships at all, and his sentences were rarely longer than four words.
Gaara was also a transfer student from a different high school, and he saw no reason to form any connections at all to anyone for his final year. Even Kankuro, usually much more social than his younger brother, was somewhat reserved.
Gaara usually looked forward to going home, as much as he could look forward to doing anything. Going home meant that he wouldn't need to be around people, and he wouldn't have to listen to that quiet, persistent voice in his head that told him to hurt anyone who came to close. The voice never stopped and its words varied in intensity and volume depending on the situation that Gaara was in. It was always filled with satisfaction when Gaara gave in, and Gaara could feel some of that seeping into his own mind.
More often than not, Gaara thought the voice was just another part of him. Thanks to it, Gaara rarely slept, and many students attributed his unpredictable violence to that insomnia.
Due to his good grades and the relationship Gaara had to the principal, his teachers usually left Gaara alone. He never disturbed class unless someone disturbed him, and he always handed in assignments on time. The actions were somewhat at odds with his appearance, but no one had the guts to tell him that.
So Gaara found it somewhat irritating that he'd gotten a weeklong detention, and for such an inconsequential reason. Yes, he'd slammed some kid's head into a locker, but he couldn't see why that was a good reason for detention.
That kid had been looking at Gaara funny, and had even had the stupidity and ignorance to say that Gaara's mother deserved to die when the redhead had been walking past.
If there was one thing that could set Gaara off more reliably than anything else, it was talk about his mother. She had died during childbirth, leaving Gaara with only his father. No one knew exactly what went on in Gaara's mind when he heard mention of her, but it wasn't good.
So now Gaara found himself walking through the halls of school after classes had ended, heading towards the detention room. This wasn't his first detention, but it was the first one that actually had penalties if Gaara didn't attend, so the boy found himself actually going. Even worse, it was a weeklong affair, which meant that Gaara had to sit in the detention room for one hour every day for a week.
He was familiar with the detention room. It was a smaller classroom, with a whiteboard set up on the front wall, a grand desk to the left and student desks scattered throughout the rest of the room. Since the classroom wasn't used for any real classes, it was usually empty.
When Gaara pushed the door marked "Detention" in big, blocky font open and saw four other people sitting inside, he was notably confused, though none of that emotion showed on his face. He took everything in during the brief moment he took to close the door.
The first boy to catch his attention had bright yellow hair and wore a bright orange t-shirt with blue shoulders and a necklace with a leaf on it. He also wore blue jeans and generic casual shoes. Gaara noted the strange markings on his face: three lines on both of his cheeks that looked entirely natural.
The second boy was the opposite of the first. He had black hair that framed his face and serious black eyes. In contrast to the first boy's bright colors, this boy wore muted tones in the form of a white shirt covered in a black leather jacket and jeans topped with what looked like combat boots. He wore a tight bracelet on his right wrist, made of black cloth with a silver leaf woven into it. It was similar to the first boy's necklace, but Gaara could clearly see that this was not intentional. There was also some kind of white and red crest on the boy's shirt, one that Gaara didn't recognize.
The only girl in the room caught Gaara's attention because of her pink hair, something that put Gaara's crimson hair to shame. Her short hair framed her face and highlighted her bright green eyes, drawing attention away from the diamond mark on her forehead that was clearly a birthmark. A red headband held most of her hair back. She wore a white long-sleeve shirt with red sleeves and a red skirt and black boots that went most of the way up her shins. She was also staring at the black-haired boy with avid interest, propping her chin on her palm as the black-haired boy glared at the yellow-haired one.
Gaara instantly recognized the last occupant of the room: Kankuro. He had his typical smirk on, his spiky brown hair in its usual messy state. He wore a black sweatshirt and black fingerless gloves alongside black pants and shoes. He had an intense dislike for bright, obnoxious colors in large quantities, something reflected in his choice of clothes.
Kankuro saw Gaara the moment he stepped through the door and his smirk widened as a result.
"Gaara. Didn't think I'd see you here."
While Kankuro was usually jovial, he was slightly more reserved in Gaara's presence. Slightly. When Gaara grew angry or agitated, however, Kankuro's confident attitude slipped away. No matter how much Kankuro cared for his younger brother, Gaara gave him the creeps.
Not to mention that Gaara would beat Kankuro in a fight. Though Gaara was shorter than most boys his age, he was deceptively strong and incredibly quick, not to mention his absurd reflexes.
So when Gaara gave no reply to Kankuro's words other than a flat stare that gave absolutely nothing away, Kankuro was understandably put on edge, even more so when Gaara took a seat in the back corner of the room, farthest away from all the other people but closest to Kankuro, who was only two desks away.
Gaara set his backpack down and turned down the volume of his music just barely. He didn't fidget; he never fidgeted. Five minutes passed, and then ten. Still the teacher responsible for overseeing the detention didn't show up. Gradually, out of detached interest more than anything else, Gaara began to listen in on the avid conversations of the four other people in the room as he subtly paused his music.
"I can't believe you got a detention," the yellow-haired kid was saying, leaning forward and smiling at the black-haired boy. "I mean, you're practically a model student! Every teacher loves Sasuke Uchiha."
Something about the name struck Gaara as familiar; after a moment, he recognized it as one of the kids in his classes.
"That's probably because I can actually participate in my classes," Sasuke replied, his gaze showing utter apathy, though his tone hinted at annoyance.
"I participate! I just do it selectively!"
"If that's what helps you sleep at night, Naruto."
That name, like Sasuke's, sounded familiar to Gaara. It took the redhead longer to place it, but he soon realized the boy was in one or two of his classes. Dimly, Gaara recalled thinking that Naruto talked too much.
"Naruto, lay off Sasuke," the pink-haired girl interrupted. "You're only in a few of his classes anyway so it's not like you can actually compete with each other."
"Aw, Sakura, you know I can beat Sasuke any time I want to!"
"Please," the girl—now identified as Sakura, who Gaara had previously recognized from most of his classes—said, smiling. "Sasuke would kick your butt any day."
"You don't know that!"
"I'm pretty sure I do. Sasuke, don't you agree?"
Sasuke made a noncommittal noise, looking about as disinterested as physically possible. He was absently fiddling with a pencil, spinning it on his fingers, catching it, and then spinning it again.
Naruto was pouting, his fingers tapping on the desk he was sitting at in a restless rhythm.
After a minute of tense silence, the door finally opened to admit the teacher. Gaara recognized him as Kakashi, one of the gym teachers known to be particularly harsh on his students. Gaara wasn't in his class, but he wasn't deaf and he'd heard the rumors, not that they particularly interested him.
"Sorry I'm late," the silver-haired teacher said, wearing his typical black mask. More rumors circulated about the teacher's strange aversion to showing his face; most centralized around an accident that happened many years back that Kakashi had been involved in that severely disfigured his face. That same rumor of the accident also gave a reason why Kakashi's left iris was a disturbing crimson color, apparently because the blood vessels behind it had gotten messed up.
Gaara stared at the teacher, noting his casual dress and the way his hair stuck practically straight up from his head. Kakashi was also notably unapologetic about his lateness, and Gaara didn't miss the book that he stuffed into one of his many pockets that was definitely banned from the school premises.
"We've been waiting for twenty minutes!" Naruto called.
"Clearly you were simply twenty minutes early," Kakashi replied simply, taking a seat on the top of the desk in the front of the room. "Now, what was I here for?"
"We're serving detention," Sasuke said, his gaze unwavering. "You're supposed to watch us for the hour."
"But since twenty minutes have passed we only have to stay for forty more!" Naruto chipped in, pumping one fist in the air.
"Actually, since I just got here, you still have to serve . . ." Kakashi checked the clock. "Fifty-eight minutes."
Naruto's jaw dropped and his expression quickly became crestfallen. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Not at all," Kakashi said, pulling out a clipboard. "Now, to get this whole thing over with, I need each of your names and why you're here. Sulky, you go first."
Kakashi was clearly referring to Sasuke, who glowered but answered nonetheless. "Sasuke Uchiha. Insulting another student."
"Sounds like fun. Now you, Ms. Adoration."
Sakura jumped slightly. "Oh, um, Sakura Haruno, sir."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the "sir", but Sakura continued as though she hadn't noticed.
"I'm here for punching another student."
Gaara noted the glance Sakura shot in the direction of Naruto, who was unconsciously rubbing his upper right arm. Clearly, Sakura had punched Naruto, most likely in the defense of Sasuke whom she clearly adored.
"O-kay. And you, kid?"
"Why do we get nicknames and he doesn't?" Sakura wondered aloud, though no one paid attention.
"Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm here because I insulted Sasuke!"
"You're far too excited about that, kid," Kakashi said, writing something on the clipboard. His eyes wandered the room, settling on Kankuro. "And you?"
"Kankuro Suna. Being disrespectful to a lowerclassmen."
The teen was distinctly unrepentant, and, judging from the past, Gaara knew that Kankuro would do the same thing again. He had a notorious dislike for anyone younger than him by more than a few months.
Kakashi hummed in response, wrote something else down, and then glanced at Gaara, who returned the stare with a flat one of his own that was always enough to disturb his teachers. To Kakashi's credit, the man gave no indication that he found Gaara's appearance unorthodox; instead, he merely raised an eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Gaara Suna. Attacking a student."
Gaara's words were short and emotionless, and the others in the room seemed to take notice of him for the first time. Immediately, they stiffened, recognizing him and his name. Gaara's reputation preceded him, and Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had all heard the rumors about Gaara's random bouts of violence. While the three were all skilled in martial arts, they weren't eager to find out how good Gaara was, especially if his brother was there as well.
"Now that that's done," Kakashi said, placing the clipboard back on the desk, "I can get down to business."
The teacher stood up, stretched for a moment, and then began walking out the door. "I don't really care for watching over detentions, so I'll be back in an hour. Don't leave the classroom and please do your best not to let any teachers know that you don't have a teacher with you."
"Hey, hold on a second!" Naruto said, standing up a little. "Why are you leaving?"
Sasuke had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "That doesn't seem very responsible," he said, though Kakashi gave no reaction to his words.
Sakura had her mouth open as though she was going to speak, but it looked like she didn't know what to say.
Kankuro was grinning more than usual, and Gaara knew that his brother was going to take out his puppeteer supplies the moment Kakashi left. Gaara knew that Kankuro had a strange obsession with puppets, though the redhead could never really bring himself to care.
For his part, Gaara didn't care whether Kakashi was in the room or not. He simply wanted to wait for the detention to be over so he could leave, and the sooner that happened the better. Of course, Gaara gave no indication of his feelings and his blank gaze was fixed at some point past the front of the room, though he didn't miss a single thing that happened elsewhere in the classroom.
The moment after the door closed behind Kakashi, Naruto jumped out of his seat.
"All right! Let's leave!"
"No, you idiot!" Sakura said, dragging him down with surprising strength. "Kakashi specifically said that we're to stay here!"
"Aw, Sakura, you're no fun!"
"Will you two quiet down?" Sasuke asked. "He also said that we're not supposed to give away the fact that we're unsupervised."
"You're just afraid of getting in trouble," Naruto taunted, grinning. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. I just happen to have more brain cells than you."
"Take that back!"
"No."
"Why you little-!"
"Please, you two, it's only been a minute!" Sakura said, slamming her hand down on her desk and startling Sasuke and Naruto out of their glaring contest. "We're seniors in high school; act like it!"
Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, looking away from Sasuke in a childish manner unbecoming of a senior in high school. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and set to glaring at nothing in particular. Sakura glanced between the two, sighed, and rubbed her forehead.
Naruto looked as though he was about to say something, but Sakura interrupted him.
"Also, Naruto, I'm not going to prom with you so stop asking."
"Whaaaaaat?" Naruto said, his mouth dropping open. "C'mon, Sakura, you know Sasuke's not going to go with you so why not go with me?"
Sakura's features twitched with irritation but she was remarkably calm when she spoke, though her body language spoke of barely suppressed violence. "Well, you've been pestering me all year even after I clearly said no. I'm not planning on having a date to go to prom this year since I'm going with Ino and Hinata. Now stop asking and get over it! And before you even say it again, I know Sasuke doesn't want to go with me. I figured that out months ago, nitwit!"
Sakura glared daggers at Naruto, who had shrunk down in his seat. He held up his hands, grinning sheepishly. "Okay, okay. I get it."
"Good."
"Ridiculous," Kankuro said, playing with something on his desk. Gaara recognized it as his brother's favorite puppet, the one he had named Crow. It was small, but Kankuro had been adding tricks and traps to the puppet's design for years. Now there were numerous small blades disguised in the puppet, cleverly hidden so that a teacher would never discover them.
Unfortunately, Kankuro had just dragged the attention of the three seniors straight to himself.
"Are you calling me ridiculous?" Sasuke asked, his voice deceptively quiet.
"Yeah, what does a guy like you get from sayin that anyway?"
"It was kind of rude," Sakura said, though she wasn't nearly as put out as Naruto.
"So what if I am?" Kankuro asked, leaning back in his chair and exuding confidence. "It's true, anyway."
"Is not!" Naruto shouted, offended. Sasuke's gaze merely darkened.
"If you have a problem," the raven-haired boy said, "then just say it."
Kankuro grinned. "Sure. You're all idiots and I'm better than you in my sleep."
"And how do you think that?" Sasuke asked, still calm but beginning to look pissed off.
"Because I'm in almost all college classes and I could beat you in a fight any day."
Kankuro's words might have been true; he was skilled in martial arts, more so than most people, and he was almost as intelligent as Gaara. He was in college classes because, had he not been held back, Kankuro would've been in college.
"You wanna bet?" Naruto asked, standing up and facing Kankuro. "I'm the strongest guy here!"
"Please, Naruto," Sakura said, her eyes darting between Kankuro and Naruto. "Now really isn't the time. We're already in weeklong detention. Who knows what'll happen if we get caught fighting again?"
"Kakashi isn't here," Naruto said. "So it doesn't matter!"
"What about you, Mr. Serious?" Kankuro asked, his eyes sliding over to Sasuke, whose lips were thinned despite the fact that the boy remained in his seat. "Why aren't you saying anything? Did your parents tell you not to be mean to strangers?"
Gaara saw the exact moment when Kankuro's words struck a nerve. In an instant, Sasuke was on his feet, scowling. "You have no right to talk about that," he said. "So shut up."
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. "Sasuke agrees with me!"
Sakura just groaned, putting her head on her desk and muttering that she was going to have to put a stop to the fight soon enough.
"Heh." Kankuro stood up, puppet in hand, his chair making a harsh scraping noise against the floor. If he flicked the head off, a blade would shoot out, making a perfect impromptu weapon.
The tension in the room, which had been slowly rising the entire time, skyrocketed. Sakura stood up as well, more than ready to jump into action.
Gaara was finally fed up with his brother's antics. Really, the redhead was in no mood to spend more time in detention than absolutely necessary, and on top of that his brother's fights usually had unforeseen consequences.
Gaara's voice was soft when he spoke, but his words were razor sharp and extremely threatening. There was a wealth of killing intent in the four syllables alone, something that Gaara was a master at exuding despite his status as a lowly high school student.
"Stop, Kankuro."
Immediately, the puppeteer froze, his eyes glancing at Gaara. Kankuro was definitely wary of his younger brother, who was stronger than Kankuro and had displayed more psychopathic and homicidal tendencies than all of the people Kankuro knew combined. Essentially, Kankuro's younger brother was a deadly individual, one who didn't care for familial ties.
"Oh, hey, Gaara. I forgot that you were here."
Gaara's expression didn't change. "Sit down."
Kankuro complied with Gaara's order, but not before shooting one last glare in Naruto's direction. The blond teen retorted by sticking out his tongue, only to bite down on it when Sakura punched him in the head.
"You idiot!" She said, putting her hands on her hips while Naruto held his head and groaned. "Are you trying to start a fight?"
"Sasuke did the same thing," Naruto said, wincing as he was forced to move his bitten tongue.
"At least he was being cool about it!"
"How does that even make a difference . . .?"
Sasuke, however, wasn't paying attention. The serious teenager was stuck in a staring contest with Gaara, who hadn't moved the entire time.
Sasuke had gained Gaara's interest. It wasn't because Sasuke was calmer than the other people in the room; no, Gaara was interesting in Sasuke because the Uchiha had a strange look in his eyes.
It was one that Gaara found interesting. It wasn't exactly an implied challenge; instead, the Sasuke kid seemed to be threatening Gaara with just a single look, which Gaara found irritating.
He didn't like being challenged; especially not when the voice in his head that sounded so much like his mother told him that Sasuke was insulting him. Gaara did not take kindly to insults.
So he stared at Sasuke, all his thoughts perfectly hidden behind washed-out blue irises.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he was the first to break the sudden, palpable silence.
"What was your name?"
Gaara didn't reply. He was sizing up the boy in front of him and coming to the conclusion that Sasuke was not as strong as he was. Despite the challenge in his eyes, Sasuke moved, breathed, and talked with a barely detectable weakness that Gaara's predatory nature found immediately.
"Hey, are you even listening to me?"
"Dude, just shut up," Kankuro said, glancing between Sasuke and Gaara. "You really don't want to antagonize my brother."
"You two are brothers?" Sakura asked, shocked. "But you look nothing alike!"
Kankuro leveled her with a sarcastic glare. "Really? I hadn't noticed, thanks for telling me."
"I asked you what your name was," Sasuke said again, his eyes narrowing. Still Gaara did not reply, and Kankuro intervened because he didn't want to see his little brother fight. After all, Gaara had avoided homicide up to his senior year in high school and Kankuro didn't want to see Gaara go to jail.
"His name's Gaara Suna," Kankuro said. He instantly felt the ire of his younger brother get redirected.
"Kankuro . . ." Gaara said, his intentions clear in that simple word. This time, however, Kankuro stood his ground.
"Look, Gaara, now isn't the time for you to fight. We just got here, so at least wait until the last few minutes, okay? As a favor for your brother."
Gaara's eyes narrowed fractionally, the only sign that he was displeased. That soft, persistent voice in his head was growing louder and angrier, pushing against the mental walls that Gaara had subconsciously placed in its way. The irony of Kankuro telling Gaara to calm down when Kankuro had been about to fight moments earlier was lost on everyone in the room.
"C'mon, Gaara," Kankuro said, sounding slightly more nervous. "You know that Tamari doesn't like it when you fight."
"Tamari isn't here," Gaara said, his disturbing irises looking in Kankuro's direction. The older boy swallowed.
"Yeah, but she still wouldn't like it when she found out. You know how she gets, right?"
Again, there was no real discernable change in Gaara's expression. After a few tense seconds, however, his posture relaxed just slightly and he inclined his head in Kankuro's direction. When he spoke, his voice was completely emotionless.
"Just this once."
Kankuro nodded, getting the message. He wouldn't be able to invoke Tamari again as a way to calm Gaara down, especially now that their sister was in college and that much farther away.
"Who's Tamari?" Sakura asked, sensing that the tension had drained away.
"Our older sister," Kankuro answered, considerably more social now that his younger brother had gone back to sitting down and staring at absolutely nothing. Gaara even had his ear buds in, though Kankuro couldn't tell whether the redhead was actually playing music or not. "She's at college this year."
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Sakura said. Kankuro made a small noise of agreement, not really sure what to say. He'd never been a sociable person, and despite the fact that he'd had more than a few girlfriends he'd never really been able to connect with anyone.
The reputation of his brother made sure of that.
"So, uh . . ." Naruto fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable with the silence in the room. "If we're all here, we should, uh, do something. 'Cause we still have fifty minutes, I mean."
Gaara absently wondered why that yellow-haired boy needed to be doing something. There was nothing wrong with sitting still and doing nothing; when everything was silent, Gaara could actually find himself thinking straight, no matter how fleeting the feeling was.
"Hey, you!"
Gaara blinked, slowly looking up to see Naruto looking straight at him.
"Aren't you in some of my classes?"
Sakura and Sasuke tensed as Gaara's lips shifted in the barest trace of a frown. His answer was short and to the point: "Yes."
"Which ones?" Naruto pressed.
Now Kankuro was getting nervous and exchanging glances with Sakura and Sasuke. None of them found it strange that they were bonding over a mutual wariness of Gaara.
"Math and Geography," Gaara said, taking out his ear buds with agonizingly deliberate movements that set Kankuro on edge. When Gaara actually took out his music, it meant that the redhead was preparing for the possibility of a fight.
"Really? Man, I never noticed you." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, as if he actually found that embarrassing. Gaara watched, not entirely sure what to make of the boy in front of him. Normally, other students would have made a tactical retreat at this point, whether polite or rude. "That's dumb. Huh."
Naruto was quiet for a few moments, probably thinking. Sakura and Sasuke looked ten seconds away from throttling their friend—because even though their words were harsh Gaara could identify the strange and complex bonds of friendship between them, something Gaara couldn't understand—but Naruto's next words froze them in their tracks.
"Hey, Gaara, isn't your dad the principle?"
"Oh no. That's dangerous territory." Unfortunately, Kankuro's muttered comment was too quiet for Naruto to hear.
Gaara gave nothing away as he answered, his expression stony. "Yes."
"Um, that's cool. Must be nice."
Kankuro visibly flinched, something that Sasuke and Sakura didn't miss. Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to thicken.
"How would it be 'nice'?"
Gaara's words sounded like a statement, but they were undeniably a question. Naruto looked taken aback.
"Uh, well, you can get away with a lot more stuff. I mean, I would totally prank my teachers so much more. Really, I had this awesome idea with these rabbit posters, but vice-principle Tsunade caught me before I could really do anything. That sucked, but then I got to throw a water balloon at Kakashi during class, and it actually hit him, which was hilarious."
Naruto kept talking, oblivious to the disbelieving expressions on the others' faces. Gaara looked surprised—as surprised as he was capable of looking, which wasn't very—but his expression quickly shifted back into neutrality.
Who was Naruto, to think that talking to Gaara was so easy? The redhead had a reputation for a reason. People never talked to him; he had no real connections, no family, and no friends.
So why was Naruto Uzumaki talking to Gaara as if it were the most normal thing in the world?
"Of course, I never really knew my mom or dad—they died when I was little—but I'm sure having a parent must be pretty weird. I mean, having someone telling you what to do all the time has to suck. I've never had to deal with that, usually. Well, there's this guy named Iruka who sometimes takes care of me, but he's busy a lot. And since I don't really have any friends besides Sasuke and Sakura—all my other friends moved away or went to college or live somewhere else or never existed-" the last part was rushed, as though Naruto had never really thought about saying it out loud. He took a deep breath, clearly intending to continue his tangent.
"Be quiet."
Gaara's words cut off anything else that Naruto had been about to say.
Instead of elaborating, Gaara began to put his ear buds back in his ears, wondering how much more time would need to pass before he could leave to go home.
When Naruto suddenly walked up to him and slapped his ear buds away, Gaara was shocked. His eyes even widened, an expression not usually seen on his face.
Kankuro cursed, holding onto his puppet even more tightly in case he would need to pull out a blade in order to stop his younger brother. Sasuke and Sakura tensed, their hands curling into fists.
"It's rude to listen to music when someone else is talking," Naruto said, his eyes flashing. "That's what Iruka taught me."
Gaara's gaze went from Naruto's blue eyes, to the floor, and back to Naruto. The shock in his features drained away to be replaced by his usual blank mask, but when he spoke, there was a barely controlled—not even controlled, but rather held back—fury.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to talk to you, obviously," Naruto replied, crossing his arms. "I'm trying to be your friend here, 'cause you look real lonely, so I don't really like that you're ignoring me."
"What did you say?"
"I don't really like that you're—"
"Before that." There was something strange in Gaara's expression, replacing the anger.
"Oh. That I'm trying to be your friend."
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kankuro watched the exchange, each unsure as to what they would do if things went badly, which they undoubtedly would sooner or later.
"Why?" There was genuine curiosity in Gaara's words, and Kankuro felt something in his chest clench.
Yes, Gaara's elder brother had known that Gaara was largely a pariah in high school, but he hadn't been aware that it was this bad. Otherwise he would've done . . . something. Something to help his younger brother break out of the walls he had built around himself.
Naruto looked taken aback, but he recovered quickly. "Um. You look like you need a friend."
"And if I don't?" There was something inherently threatening in Gaara's words, in the way they were spoken, like each syllable was broken glass, but Naruto persevered.
"Well, you're getting a friend anyway." Then Naruto did something unprecedented and entirely unexpected: he leaned forward and whispered, so that none save Gaara could hear his words.
"Look, I can see it in your eyes. I know what you're thinking, I know how you think. I've been there, okay? I know you've only been here for a few months, but it's my fault that I didn't do anything sooner. I should've realized you were going through the same stuff that I went through my whole life."
Naruto stood up straight again, his expression determined. Kankuro was in shock that Gaara hadn't done anything violent, Sasuke and Sakura even more so.
"What makes you think you can understand?" Gaara's eyes narrowed, and his body language became threatening. "No one can understand." He sounded as though he was repeating something he was hearing. "No one will ever understand."
"Bullshit," Naruto stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. Gaara looked up and met his gaze, and what he found there was shocking.
Gaara had always been able to read people through their eyes; their strengths, their weaknesses, their pain.
And now Naruto's eyes were showing Gaara mirror images of Gaara's own childhood, full of troubling flashes and violent outbursts mirrored by an inability to find someone to just explain why he was hated.
He just wanted to understand.
Why was that so hard?
When Naruto spoke again, he was subdued, a sharp contrast to the boisterous nature he had displayed up to that point.
"I really am sorry that I didn't talk to you sooner. And I'm sorry that you didn't have any friends up to now that live here. And I'm sorry that everyone around here treats you the way they do."
"Why . . . why would you apologize for things that aren't your doing?" Gaara's eyes were wide again, and he hadn't picked up his ear buds from where Naruto had hit them. "Why would you care?"
"Because if no one cares for anyone else," Naruto said in a way that implied he thought the concept was simple, "then no one could know what it's like to be cared for."
Gaara blinked. "But caring for yourself . . . it makes things simpler. People don't get in your way."
Kankuro nearly fainted, but not before his jaw hit the floor. How could this Naruto kid get Gaara to open up so easily, when Kankuro and Tamari had tried for years with no results?
Naruto shook his head avidly. "That's no good. If other people don't rely on you, then you can't rely on other people. If you fall, then they won't be there to catch you. But if you have friends, they will catch you, and you can catch them." Naruto's gaze slid over to the thunderstruck Sasuke and Sakura, who had long since given up on the ability to speak. "If I didn't have friends I could fall back on," he said, abruptly serious, "I would've ended up in a very bad place."
Naruto's demeanor changed again, and he stuck out his hand to a bewildered—though not showing it—Gaara. "So I'm going to stop you from falling into that place, okay?"
For the first time in his life, Gaara found himself shocked speechless. Thoughts flitted through his brain faster than he could process them and the voice—the voice that was always there—was quiet and Gaara was thinking straight.
He was thinking straight.
And it wasn't silent.
Was it Naruto?
Slowly, Gaara blinked, his eyes never breaking contact with Naruto's. He quickly came to the conclusion that yes, it was Naruto. Something about the kid, something about what he had said and done had resonated with Gaara.
It had opened the door to the lonely part of Gaara that still cried at night, that still pleaded with others to talk to him even as the rest of Gaara felt nothing at all, and told that part that there was nothing wrong with it.
Gaara blinked again.
"Oh, here. I guess I should give these back."
Naruto leaned over, reached past Gaara, and grabbed his ear buds. He held them out to the expressionless yet still surprised redhead with a cheeky smile.
"Here!"
With numb fingers, Gaara took his ear buds back. The moment Naruto took a step back, time seemed to resume again, and Sasuke, Sakura, and Kankuro visibly sagged from the tension that had been thrumming through their muscles.
Footsteps outside the door prompted each of the students to quickly resume their seats and temporarily postpone what had just occurred. The door opened excruciatingly slowly, and then opened all at once to reveal the strangely cheery form of Kakashi. The teacher waved and stepped fully into the classroom, one hand behind his back. Not one person in the room had any doubt as to what the teacher held in that hand.
"Well, looks like I can't keep you lot here past four," Kakashi said, his mask shifting in a way that indicated he was smiling. "That's what Jiraiya said, anyway. So you're free to go!"
Naruto's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding! You went through all that earlier just to say you were joking?"
"Pretty much!" Kakashi said, his hand dropping back to his side. "Now please hurry. I have some important readi—ah, tests to grade."
Rolling his eyes and muttering about the strangeness of the teachers, Sasuke got up from his seat.
"Well, Naruto, Sakura?" He said as he walked towards the door with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "You coming?"
"Of course, Sasuke!" Sakura said, all but jumping out of her seat to follow her obvious crush. Naruto snorted, and then got up to follow.
Right as he walked out the door, he paused, and glanced back at Gaara. In that split second, his right eye closed in a brief wink, and then Naruto was gone.
Gaara stared after him for a few seconds, his emotions in turmoil but none of his feelings showing on his face.
Kakashi watched him discreetly, knowing that the detention had been a gamble on the part of the teachers to see if Gaara was capable of interacting with others. Apparently, he was, which was why Kakashi had stepped in when he had. Eavesdropping from outside was only entertaining for so long.
"Ah, Gaara, we should head home," Kankuro said, putting on his own backpack and stuffing Crow into it before Kakashi could get a good look at the puppet.
The redhead nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak, and followed his brother out the door.
As Gaara walked out of the room, listening to his music and watching Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura walk towards the main doors of the high school, he found that he was oddly looking forward to detention the next day. For the briefest of moments, as Naruto let out a particularly loud laugh at something Sakura said, a tiny smile crossed Gaara's face. It was gone as soon as it had appeared, but it was progress.
A/N Just something I wanted to post.
Review if you like.
-RoR
Actually, I'm going to do my typical plea even though this is a oneshot:
Please review.