Hello, all! This is my second fanfiction! The next chapter will be quite delayed.
By the way, this is all in first person. It's a secret who's perspective it is though.
You may also notice some asteriks next to Gari-sama. "Gari" can be translated in to "pickled radish". Sushi-eaters have probably tasted this before. I love it. xD
At one point in my life, I did not feel alone.
Monster. I had heard that word hissed at me many times before, felt the painful sting in my heart so many, many times. I heard it once again, hollered at me on my way to school.
"Bakemono!" The girl called at me as she passed me, running. I felt a pang in my heart, but no medicine, no ointment could treat this pain. I clutched my tan poncho with my tiny hands and shut my eyes. I whimpered.
I was a small six-year-old boy. My hair was shaggy and spiky, and deep dark red. My eyes were a light blue-green color. Ever since I could remember, I had dark circles around them. It must have been the demon that had been sealed inside of me. I frowned as I thought of it. But my father loved me, right? Wrong. But I thought I had nothing to worry about.
I became aware of another presence, but this child did not call out at me, did not hiss any unkind words, did not glare at me or make any gesture. She was quite silent. I stared at her, looked her over.
Her hair was very short and ragged, just barely reaching mid-neck. Small locks of her russet hair were beaded, about five or six colorful clay beads on each strand. On the right side of her head was a long, loose braid that descended down, a little past her shoulder. The colorful display on her head bounced like it weighed nothing as I watched her step cheerily on her way to school. Although her walk was lively, her face had a distant and silent expression as if she was daydreaming. Her eyes where big, round and a rich, honey-like amber color. Her nose was small and rounded, but jutted out slightly. Her pink lips where clamped shut and down turned slightly at the edges. She had high, rosy cheeks, but her complexion was rather pale for someone who lived in the sand village. She wore plain clothing, just pale white Capri pants and a blue skirt over that. Her shirt was pretty uninteresting, too - a forest-colored fitted tunic that cuffed at the boat neck. I hadn't seen here before. Perhaps she was a new student. I wondered why there was no parent or guardian escorting her.
Apparently she must have noticed my scrutiny at some point and she snapped her head away sheepishly. But I could see the blush on her face. She was… kind of cute… and she seemed nice. Then again, anyone seemed nice if they didn't call me names. I was kind of embarrassed caught staring, so I rushed on ahead as if I had somewhere important to go. Soon, I forgot about the girl as I neared the academy.
The room was filled with chatter and laughter. I resumed my normal position in the top left of the classroom. Without the teacher to chastise and quiet the other children, they where having rather a good time while playing and gossiping. But, things come to their end , and the plain, boring door slid open. In came our flak jacket-clad teacher, Areno-sensei. She wore her sand hitai-ate well up on her forehead, revealing her thin eyebrows.
A small girl - the one I had seen this morning - clung to the teacher for dear life. For a moment I thought they where glued together, but the teacher eventually pried her off as the other pupils hurried back to order and got their pencils and papers at the ready. She clutched her books to her chest and held her lunchbox tightly. I watched carefully as the teacher bent to whisper in the new student's ear. The girl nodded reluctantly and picked up a piece of chalk, still holding her books and lunch in the other hand. She wrote her name in short, messy hiragana strokes, but it was legible. It spelled out before my eyes; "Nakaobu Kokoro". I wondered if her family called her Koko-chan as a nickname. She seemed like the 'Koko' type to me. Nakaobu was a rather odd surname, though, but perhaps she was foreign to Sunagakure.
The teacher then spoke to Kokoro again, gesturing to the empty seat by me. Nobody else sat by me, or rather, nobody wanted to. I was always alone in that forsaken corner. But this girl didn't know anything, and she didn't seem the type to protest. She nodded again, (I wondered why she didn't answer with a 'Yes, ma'am.', or a 'Hai.' I guessed she didn't like to talk much.), and walked cautiously up the ascending stairs. The seats where elevated in the classroom, each rising higher before the previous. Mine was one of the highest. She hid half her face behind the books, dodging gawks from the students, probably horrified that she was seated next to the likes of me - Gaara the monster, the bakemono, the Kazekage's son.
She didn't seem frightened of me at all as she placed her books gently on the wooden table, barely making a sound as the two objects came in contact. Upon impulse I looked away, as most would do. A few moments passed, but I didn't feel her gaze on me. I fussed with my poncho that I wore regularly, looked under the desk and at my toes. I looked at hers. Her toenails (and fingernails, too, I guessed) were painted a deep purple. She wriggled her toes nervously as we all listened to the teacher ramble on about how one should always be discreet and silent when preparing for an ambush.
The lesson dragged on until there was a change in subject. We began to review ninja weaponry. Areno-sensei sketched out poorly drawn diagrams of weapons on the board with her long, white piece of chalk. I was hardly paying attention, daydreaming out the window, for I knew the weapons like the back of my hand. Kunai, shuriken, large shuriken, et cetera. Easy stuff like that. Areno-sensei turned to us and picked up her long, rubber-tipped pointer stick thing. That's what I called it, at least. She slapped it at the first drawing.
"Who can tell me what weapon this is?" She called out in a rather uninteresting tone. A few students let a groan escape. We couldn't even count how many times the class had gone over this material. I heard a sharp little squeak from my left. Turning, I saw Kokoro with her shoulders straight and tight, and her hand cupped over her mouth. A few classmates, of them including me, turned to look at her, but she cast her glance away from us. Poor girl, she must have been nervous that she might be called on.
"Kokoro? Can you tell us?" Areno-sensei said in an unusually kind tone. I looked up at our teacher. The voice to me sounded unnatural… out of place. But even stranger was the voice yet to come.
"Yes, ma'am." Kokoro spoke at last. Her voice was high-pitched, fast, and sounded small. The words shot out so quickly, so compressed together, I thought she was choking back more to say. She breathed in sharply again. "The weapon is a kunai." Again I heard her words compressed together, like she shot out words every time she opened her mouth. Perhaps she was just really shy.
The morning passed away gradually, with boring lessons that we'd learned long before. I guess it was a review day. We carried on until lunch, my least favorite time of the school day. Our academy had no cafeteria, so students where allowed to separate into groups and eat lunch on their desks. I, naturally, sat alone at my desk. I wondered which social group of girls she would be invited to, though she didn't seem like the type to gossip and babble on at lunch with cliques of giggling girls. Areno-sensei announced the usual forty-five minute lunch break, resulting with a cheerful wave of students rushing to their friends. I sat alone with Kokoro. I was about to turn and say something, maybe start a conversation with this interesting new girl, when another girl of our class approached her.
"Hi, Kokoro-chan," She said in a friendly voice, laying her palms on the desk and leaning on them. I recognized the voice. It was the brunette child who had hissed at me this morning on my way to school. When I looked at her directly, she shot a glare at me over Kokoro's head. I turned away, hurt, and I saw out of the corner of my eye her head turn to smile back at Kokoro. "Do you want to sit with us?" The girl said as she shoved her thumb toward the direction of a group of schoolgirls. I didn't hear Kokoro respond, but I was pretty sure she nodded. I heard the desk chair move, and the small patter of girls' feet on the wooden steps. I pulled out my lunch- small portions of dried fruits, juice, and a sandwich.
Over the room's chatter, I picked out the girls' conversation. The brunette who invited Kokoro into her group began to introduce herself. Her name was Miyuki.
"This is Aria, Kaoru, Mika…" Miyuki named all of the children at the desk. I listened quietly from behind my desk, trying to be inconspicuous as I nibbled on my sandwich. Aria and Mika pursued her with questions while Miyuki sat her down. Taking a quick glance, I noticed Kokoro as uncomfortable and flustered as ever. I kind of… felt bad for her.
"So, where are you from?" Aria asked. Aria was tall, blonde, and smart. She sat on the top of her desk, chewing on a carrot. The last thing I saw before I turned my head away was Kokoro looking around from her seat, at the inquisitive faces of the other girls. Better to just listen in then be caught staring.
"I lived in the mountains of Yuki no Kuni." Again, I heard her words being shot out, but less quickly. She still seemed nervous.
So that explained why she was so pale. Little exposure to the sun, due to the snowy clouds, must have whitened her skin. I had noticed before lunch that one could easily see the tiny, wiry blue veins underneath the thin skin on her wrists.
"Wow, you must have had a lot of fun playing in the snow!" Exclaimed the girl called Rena.
"Yes, yes I did." I heard a small, nervous laugh escape Kokoro's small pink lips. It sounded more natural then her voice did. Perhaps she was beginning to lighten up. I lost interest as the conversation went on, but I kept a thread of attention directed at them. As we began to finish up lunch, I became more interested.
"So, how's it feel to sit next to…" I could only tell what would come out of Miyuki's mouth next. She glanced around and whispered my name. "…Gaara-sama?" I clenched my fists and looked away again.
"Gari-sama?" Kokoro asked, pronouncing my name wrong and enunciating the suffix.
"Gaara-sama." Kaoru corrected.
"He's the Kazekage's son." Mika hissed and shot a glare at me. "And a monster!" The other girls hushed Mika. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I picked up my trash and walked down to the waste can at the first row of desks. My fists where clenched tight around the brown paper bag that once held food. I looked at Kokoro as they continued on, whispering about me. Our eyes met for only a moment, but I couldn't tell what her opinion was of me. We resumed afternoon classes.
Finally, our teacher went over the scarce homework we had and dismissed us. I piled my things together and scooped them up. Kokoro did the same, but she did not leave immediately. Like me, she waited for the wild rush of students before standing. Smart girl.
"Kokoro-chan, I can walk you home." Miyuki was standing right beside her. But Kokoro shook her head.
"I'd like to walk home myself, if that's okay. Just to have some alone time." Kokoro was so polite. Miyuki looked a wee bit angry, but she just nodded and skipped off. I heard Kokoro sigh as I scooped up my books. I wanted to say something to her, to talk to her. She seemed so kind. I hope she wasn't persuaded by what the girls had told her about me. But she spoke first.
"I-I don't believe them." She did not meet my gaze. I seemed surprised a bit that she spoke out before I did. Kokoro stood. Finally, her penetrating eyes looked at me. She stood and took a step out from the desk. "I don't believe what they say about you, Gari-sama."
I chuckled a bit, at how she kept saying calling me 'pickled ginger'. She had an indignant look on her face, but I apologized. We silently walked downed the steps. Areno-sensei was still there, doing paperwork. She ignored us.
We were out the classroom quickly. Not a word was uttered until we were outside of the building. I was flustered and at a loss for words.
"Hey… Koko-chan?" Oops. I let the nickname unknown to her slip out. Crap.
"Koko-chan?" She laughed. Her voice seemed less restricted now, but still fast. I smiled sheepishly. "It's cute! I like it." She said. "But can I call you Gari-sama?" She gave me a genuine smile, one I hadn't seen before. She seemed like she had a different personality out of school. I laughed again and nodded. She was funny.
"I'll walk you home." I said. Koko-chan nodded and walked on ahead of me. We didn't talk much.
"So… where do you live?" I asked. Standard interrogation.
"Umm… I live by the Komaru Flower Shop. I live with my Grandmama beside the green house…" She gazed off into the sky as we talked. "She works there. It smells so nice." She giggled, probably recalling the sweet scents.
"A green house?" I'd never been inside one before, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a non-desert native plant.
"Yeah… It's always really warm and wet there." She went on, describing how her home was. She was surprisingly talkative. Out of school, that is.
We pulled to a stop in front of what I guessed was her house. She turned to me and thanked me. We said our farewells. I gazed at the large, metal ribbed structure, like a rib cage of glass, the organs became the lush plant growth inside of it, the blood rushing through became the water.
"Bye-bye, Gari-sama! See you tomorrow." Her voice had become less pressured and awakened me. She entered the wooden door that gave entrance to the small, sand-plastered house.
"Bye, Koko-chan." I waved back. As I walked back to my house, er… more of a mansion rather, I actually looked forward to school tomorrow.
As soon as I arrived home, I rushed up to my room and studied, but it wasn't like I needed to. When it was time for dinner, Yashamaru came up and knocked on my door. I let her in.
"How are you today, Gaara-sama?" My aunt asked with her friendly smile. She sat down on my bed next to me and tilted her head, letting her blonde hair slightly fall over her face. I beamed.
"I think I made a new friend today." I proclaimed excitedly and kicked my legs against the bed. The expression in Yashamaru's muted blue eyes was surprised, but glad.
"What's his or her name?" She asked me.
"Nakaobu Kokoro. She's really cute. She's even smaller then me!" I exclaimed, so happy that I finally found someone who I could share conversations with. Yashamaru laughed.
The next day, I met Koko-chan on our way to school. She had a small sign of discomfort and perplex as we spent the first few minutes of our walk silently. I looked at her face again, seeing the tiny blue veins pumping blood up and about her body. My heart raced, my fingers tingled and I felt as if something else was making my legs move. My head hurt and throbbed with unwanted and uncalled adrenaline and I winced. What was wrong with me? I clutched my shirt. The beat of the blood pumping through my heart drowned out my thoughts, I couldn't hear myself breath. I lost myself in my own pain, but I gathered up my voice and muffled the pain with conversation.
"Is there anything wrong, Koko-chan?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying to sound sincere as possible. The aching toned down and I could hear again.
"No," She sighed. But I could tell there was. "Its just I had this nightmare last night." Aha, goal reached. But wait. What was a nightmare? I asked her. She gave me a puzzled look.
"Gari-sama? You don't know what a nightmare is?" She asked and tilted her head to the side. The throbbing began to pick up in my head again. I shook my head. Partially to rid the uncomfortable and uncharacteristic headache and to answer her with out words.
"Well," She looked up into the sky. "It's kind of like a movie your head plays while you sleep." She looked back at me and pursed her lips. "It's strange that you've never had one." Sleep -not a familiar memory.
"I-I've…" I muttered. How would I explain this? Koko-chan, I don't get sleep. I can't sleep. "I don't sleep."
Her large eyes widened even more.
"You've never gotten sleep?" She asked, shocked. I felt so embarrassed of myself. I touched my cheeks. They where burning, and most likely a deep pink. Kokoro chuckled and apologized.
I answered, "No. I have... once." There was a long awkward silence between us. The sand seemed to glide under my feet as we trekked on through the streets and passed the sand coated houses. The sun was far past its rising state, and climbing its way hour, by hour with fiery fingers toward noon. The headache stopped.
"Why?" Her reply seemed half-hearted, as if she wouldn't be particularly surprised by my answer. Her voice caught me off guard, and I replied with a dull and quiet "Huh?" before I replied intelligently.
"Well…" We came upon school and finished my sentence. "I'll tell you later. After school." A nervous laugh escaped my lips. We lugged our lunches and backpacks into school and where silent until we reached the classroom. Koko-chan and I were early, so we enjoyed our free time by hopping and racing up the stairs. I got to my desk first. She arrived later, out of breath. We sat on the desks.
We chatted about odds and ends as we gradually became aware of the students filling in to the room. The stared and gawked at Kokoro like she was talking to Death itself. I paid no attention to them as though it was only Koko-chan and me.
Areno-sensei came strolling on in, and the room was silenced. Class commenced, boring as ever, and we just skimmed through the first part of the day. Lunch was when things began to interest me. Of course, Miyuki would come and ask Kokoro to sit with her group. It was only natural. I took note that girls always sit with the same people. In the same spot. No matter what. I wasn't sure that Koko-chan would sit with them agian. She seemed pressured around them... almost intimidated by them.
"I'd like to eat lunch with Gari-sama today." Came her polite decline. Miyuki was one who was quick to anger, and almost seemed fond of it. I suppressed a snicker as her lips pursed and formed a big, tight frown and blood boiled beneath her skin. Brunnette eyes narrowed into a glare and she opened her mouth.
"Well, if you sit with him again," She jabbed a finger in my direction. "then we'll count you out of our group!." Wow. Nasty girl, I thought. Girls could be so petty at times. I watched Kokoro shudder and slide of the desk.
"Ouch!" She yelped as she held her palm and stared into it. My heart began to race as I saw the red liquid slowly wind its way out of the cut. My head throbbed and my breathing became heavy. My stomach ached with sharp pains and my fingers shook uncontrollably. Blood boiled beneath my skin, swirling in my veins and arteries, rushing to my heart, to my brain, churning in a big giant mess and the last thing I felt was my foreheard klunking down on the table.
Well, thank you. Reviews are loved, loves!!
'Member, it'll all be in Gaara perspective.