When Naruto first saw Gaara it was in gym class. The red haired boy who wore more eyeliner than any of the girls Naruto knew apparently didn't believe in gym clothes. Or participating. He was standing in the corner of the room scowling at the class in general and ignoring the teacher trying to convince him to run with everyone else.
When class ended Naruto ran over to catch up with the other kid, grinning at him. "Hey. I'm Naruto." He said in a friendly tone, extending his hand.
"I don't care." Was the flat reply he got before Gaara made a sharp turn into one of the classrooms and Naruto had to keep going to get to lunch.
"Hey, Shikamaru, do you know who that kid in our gym class is? The one who was glaring at everyone?" Naruto asked his friend as he sat down at their usual table.
They were all juniors, and had managed to get most of their friends in the same lunch period. Sakura, Sasuke, Sai, Lee, Choji, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba, Shino and Neji were all sitting around the table with them. Shikamaru had brought a girl over to the table today, and her brother had joined them. Temari and Kankurou apparently. They were new transfer students, twins a year older than the rest of them. Naruto figured Shikamaru had met them in some of his advanced classes.
"Sounds like Gaara." Tamari commented before Shikamaru could say anything.
"Red hair and eyeliner?" Her brother added questioningly. With all the paint on his face, Naruto wasn't sure he should be trying to identify people by the makeup they put on theirs.
"Yeah, that's him." Naruto confirmed.
"That's our little brother, Gaara. He's not exactly social, if you were asking because you're hoping to make a new friend." Kankurou told him.
"Yeah, I noticed. I tried to talk to him after class." Naruto said, rolling his eyes.
Temari laughed at that. "And how did that go?" She asked with clear amusement.
"Not well. I'll do better next time though." Naruto said. He was going to be friends with that angry looking boy even if it killed him. Judging by the look Gaara had been giving the class it might just do that.
"Good luck with that." Kankurou replied sarcastically.
After that normal conversation started up, the topic of Gaara apparently forgotten. Shikamaru complained about class, Sakara and Ino argued, Sasuke stayed quite only occasionally speaking when Naruto said something to him, Sai teased Naruto, Kiba and Shino were discussing dogs verses bugs as pets. That last one ended up being the one that had most people giving opinions and became a group discussion for some reason.
Through the rest of the day Naruto kept an eye out for Gaara, but it seemed he didn't have any other classes with the boy.
So, the next day he started out the class by walking over to Gaara, who was standing in the same corner, still glaring at the class as a whole. His glare shifted to Naruto when the blond walked over to him.
"You know, you're graded on participation and dressing out in this class." Naruto told him.
"I don't care." Gaara told him, and Naruto could believe it judging by the look on his face.
"You don't even really have to run. You can just walk around if you don't like getting sweaty." Naruto persisted.
"I don't care." Gaara repeated, and Naruto was starting to wonder if he knew how to say anything else.
"Alright, well, what do you care about?" Naruto challenged.
"I care about how soon I can convince you to go away." Gaara said after a moment of considering the question.
"Not very." Naruto replied, grinning at the other boy.
"You're the one who is so insistent that the class is important. Yet you're standing here speaking to me instead of participating." Gaara pointed out in his usual monotone, giving Naruto an annoyed look.
"Well, maybe you're more important than the class." He argued.
Gaara narrowed his black lined eyes at that, seeming to think the words over before replying coldly. "You don't even know me. That's an idiotic thing to say."
Naruto simply grinned at him. "People have been calling me an idiot for years, so that's not going to deter me from saying it." He told him. "Gaara is important!" He exclaimed loudly to prove his point. No one reacted past glancing at him, apparently used to Naruto making loud outburst.
Gaara, on the other hand, looked baffled and unsure how to react to that. "You're odd." He decided on saying.
Naruto flashed a bright smile at that. "I strive to be." He replied.
"Why do you insist on bothering me?" Gaara asked instead of questioning that.
"I've made it a goal to be your friend. Or at least make you smile. I'm hoping to do both."
Gaara only frowned at that, not replying. He gave Naruto a calculating look, as if trying to figure out what Naruto was supposed to be gaining from attempting this. After a while of watching Naruto, who's bright smile didn't falter for a moment under the intense gaze, he shrugged dismissively. "Good luck with that." He said, reminding Naruto of his siblings.
Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but the teacher walked over and started talking about how they were wasting their youth standing around talking, so Naruto got back to running while Gaara tried to get the teacher to leave him alone.
Temari teased him about his lack of success at lunch, but he didn't really care. He was going to keep trying after all.
"I think it's nice that Naruto wants to be friends with him." Hinata had offered shyly, but past that there had been no more comment on the matter. Except maybe Kiba whispering to Shino that Naruto just wanted to hook up with the guy. Naruto couldn't be sure if that's what he'd said or not though, so he let it slid.
The next day Naruto managed to get into a fight. Not with Gaara, surprisingly, but near him.
He'd walked over to Gaara's corner again. They boy was still refusing to dress out for gym or participate in the class.
"Nice to see you again, Gaara." Naruto told him with a grin.
"I can't say that the feeling is mutual." Gaara replied, looking bored.
It was then that Kabuto walked over. Kabuto had gotten contacts and cut his hair and suddenly thought he was cooler than everyone else. He'd also picked up some purple eyeshadow like his friend who had recently graduated, Orochimaru. Personally, Naruto thought they were both creepy.
"So, Gaara, do you just think you're better than the others? Is that why you aren't running with everyone else?" The other boy asked.
"It's not that I think I'm better than you. I am better. However, that has nothing to do with running. I simply don't want to." Gaara replied. "Why is it that you know my name?"
"Kabuto knows who everyone is. He's got a notebook full of information about everyone in school. It's super weird." Naruto told Gaara. Gaara frowned at the information.
"Know the enemy and all that." Kabuto said with a shrug. Because apparently to him the entirety of the school was the enemy. "So, Naruto, is Gaara here your new charity case or something? Planning on adding him to your band of misfits? Is that why you're over here?" He asked the blond with a smirk.
"Fuck off, man. Just because you don't have any friends now doesn't mean that you can make fun of other people's." Naruto replied.
"Sure, sure. But Gaara, are you Naruto's friend?"
"No."
"Then there should be no problem with me speaking to him as I want." Kabuto told Naruto.
"Try it. See what happens." Gaara said, not appearing bothered by the situation.
"I don't know. I don't think anything will. Didn't you get kicked out of your last school for beating the crap out of some kid? Sent him to the hospital with some pretty serious injuries." It was hard to even question how Kabuto knew these things after a while.
"He was harassing my sister. Would you like me to try the same thing on you?" Gaara asked.
"Would your family really want to have to find another school though?"
"I don't particularly care what they would or would not want. That's their own business."
"With an attitude like that it's a wonder they put up with you. I'm amazed they haven't just shoved you into traffic yet." Kabuto taunted.
Before Gaara could actually do anything about it Naruto's fist connected with the silver haired boy's face. "Don't talk to him like that in front of me." He said before throwing another punch.
Gaara's eyes widened in surprise at the display. This boy, who he had been nothing but rude to, was getting into a fight to defend him.
Kabuto got in a few punches, but it seemed like Naruto was going to win the fight before the gym teacher came over and pulled the two apart. Even though Gaara had only been standing there he ended up with detention just like the two who had been fighting.
Gaara simply rolled his eyes at that, but the moved Naruto's arm around his shoulders and started leading him out of the gym. "I'm taking him to the nurse." He informed the teacher.
"I can walk by myself." Naruto told him. As much as he considered it progress that Gaara was willing to help him, he didn't really need it. He had a busted lip, but other than that Gaara couldn't see any injuries. Kabuto's other hits had been to the stomach though, so Gaara couldn't make a good judgment of how hurt the blond was.
"I know. But I can't get out of class if you're walking by yourself to the nurse." Gaara replied.
"I don't really need the nurse either." Naruto said.
"You're getting the nurse anyway." Gaara said dismissively.
"You could have helped Kabuto to the nurse if you wanted to get out of class. He probably actually needs it." Naruto pointed out.
"I don't like Kabuto." Gaara said in the same dismissive tone.
"Does that mean you like me?" Naruto asked, receiving a shrug that he could feel with his arm being around Gaara's shoulders. "Does this mean we're friends?" Naruto asked, grinning. The grin kind of hurt with his busted lip, but he didn't care. He only got another shrug for that question. "I'm taking that as a yes." Naruto said happily.
"Stop smiling. You'll hurt your mouth." Gaara replied.
"It wouldn't hurt you to smile." Naruto pointed out.
"It wouldn't help you either. Stop with the smiling."
"Make me." Naruto challenged.
"Alright." And then Gaara's mouth was on his, gently to make sure he didn't aggravate the injured lip. It was gone quickly and Gaara had started walking, pulling Naruto with him, while Naruto stared at him in shock. A tiny, almost nonexistent smile was on Gaara's face, and Naruto would deny to his grave that he was blushing.
"I just realized something." Gaara announced after a little bit longer of walking.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know where the nurse's office in this school is."
"That's alright. Granny Tsunade would kill me if she found out I got in a fight. We're out of class though, so we might as well just hang out."
"Okay."