Glass
Chapter #01 - Ends of the Earth
Standing with his back against the outside of his apartment building, a young adolescent slowly brings a cigarette to his lips. He inhales gradually, extracting as much of the toxic substance as his lungs could hold. His face is masked behind a stoic expression that fails to display his ill mood. Taking one last drag, he kicks himself off the wall and slowly treks his way toward Konoha University.
A small group of people were slowly assembling themselves in front of a pair of young men who were dressed in the same bright green shirt and black slacks.
"Is it almost time?" asked a golden-haired blonde while in the midst of a yawn.
"Just about, Naruto." answered a feral-looking male. He was currently holding a vivid green sign that stated 'College of Liberal Arts' as high as he could above his head.
Stifling another yawn, the blonde turns to face his friend. With a slight look of confusion, he asks "Hey Kiba, why are you here again?"
"I've already told you. Sai was supposed to be here, but I kinda gave him food poisoning by accident. So...I offered to take on his commitments today." answered the dark-haired male with a sheepish grin.
Naruto responded with a wide smile and quiet laugh. His rowdy companion replies with a mild growl before taking a look at his watch.
"Let's do this." stated Kiba, sporting a mirthful smirk.
Naruto turned his attention to the small gathering of people in front of him. Wearing his most extravagant smile, the blonde started speaking in his characteristically loud voice. "Hello everyone! My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I will be your tour guide today! This guy here is Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto proceeded to point towards the young man next to him. "He'll be helping me out today. As the sign states, we are representing the College of Liberal Arts. If this does not apply to you, please search for the KONS volunteer in the surrounding area holding the sign of your respective college. And for those who don't know, 'KONS' stands for 'Konoha Orientation for New Students'. Its pronounced like cons, but it starts with a 'k'. Kinda funny, right. Anyhoo, are there any questions so far?"
Naruto allowed for a few moments of silence before he continued. "Great. We'll first start by touring the various buildings that house the majors of, well, Liberal Arts!. Oh, and before I forget, let me tell you a little something about myself." Naruto beamed at his last statement. His eyes shifted to the back right of the group as he noticed a newcomer just arriving. Naruto locked eyes with those of the new arrival then quickly turned his attention back to the whole group.
"I'm a sophomore pursuing a major in Sociology. I'm also minoring in Psychology. Oh, and also I'm the R.A. of the 6th floor in Hokage Hall. If you have any questions during the tour, please ask!".
The stoic teen was currently not happy. He stood with his back against an old brick building while scanning over a sheet of paper in his hands.
Earlier, the male had managed to locate the quad of Konoha University without help and arrived only minorly late. However, his mood began a steady downhill drop as soon he met the eyes of a certain blonde volunteer. The blonde was loud. And not only that, he didn't stop talking throughout the entire tour! The apathetic male almost lashed out at any idiot who dared to ask the volunteer a question, thereby prolonging the excursion around campus.
The blonde and his friend guided the small group around the university, pointing out buildings of interest. After finally being lead back to the area from which they began, the blonde directed them towards a building that housed a computer lab. This is where the unsettled male proceeded to register for classes using the pin he obtained from an earlier meeting with his advisor. After printing his schedule, he immediately left and propped himself against the outside wall of the establishment.
"I like your 'I've come from the ends of the Earth' look." stated a cheerful voice with dramatic emphasis.
Lifting his eyes from his schedule, the youth shot a glare at whoever decided to interrupt his contemplation. To his dismay, it was the blonde volunteer.
Naruto ignored the glare, but took notice of the small frown that had formed on the redhead's lips. He meant his statement to be a compliment. Naruto had observed the young man exiting the building and had been almost...disquieted about the redhead's attitude during the tour.
The aforementioned male had shockingly red hair, although the tattoo on his forehead had a more vibrant shade. His seafoam colored eyes were outlined in black, Naruto concluded it must be eyeliner. He wore a pair of baggy, rundown camo pants. Matching in color to the pants, his shirt was a dark, forest green. On the front was an image of an urban looking lion that had dreadlocks and a pair of earphones. In addition, he wore a loose maroon sweatshirt that was currently unzipped. Naruto had noticed earlier that the back displayed some sort of hourglass design. Lastly, he wore black boots that rose a few inches above the ankle. They were adorned with buckles and shoe-laces that had the appearance of twisted rope.
Plastering a friendly smile on his face, Naruto proceeded to grab the schedule out of the redhead's grasp. He gave it a quick lookover before facing the stoic male again.
"So...Gaara...Need help finding your classes?"
"..."
"I see you have an apartment in town. Why didn't you come to one of the earlier KONS?."
"..."
Naruto's smile slightly faltered. Although Gaara was looking at him, it sort of seemed like he was looking through him. It was if the blonde wasn't even there. Naruto had already guessed the redhead didn't have much to offer in the facial expressions category, but he had hoped the other would at least say something to him.
The blonde scrutinized the boy's schedule once again. Looking at the date-of-birth, Naruto's face contorted as he performed mental math.
"You're...17, right?"
"..."
"Too young to be smoking." Naruto stated. He had noticed the cigarette smell on the redhead's clothing when he first approached him.
"...do you have a point somewhere?"
Naruto was slightly taken aback as he heard a deep, raspy voice coming from Gaara. It was the sound of a voice that hadn't been used in a while. Pleased at finally being acknowledged, the blonde's grin once again gained its former brilliance.
"Of course I do! You're new and I want to help. And just so you know...the school doesn't tolerate any kind of illegal activity. In other words, I wouldn't get caught smoking on university grounds if I were you."
Gaara reached his hand forward. It was a slightly awkward gesture.
Naruto studied the offered hand, and just as awkwardly reached his hand to shake Gaara's. However this caused another, slightly deeper than before, frown to appear on the redhead's face.
"...paper."
Naruto stared at Gaara with his head tilted slightly to the right. With sudden realization he blurted, "Oh! You mean you want your schedule? haha...yeah, sure." After a few more awkward moments, the blonde realized he was still grasping Gaara's hand. He proceeded to quickly drop it in favor of presenting the schedule. Gaara grabbed the paper out of Naruto's hand lightly. The blonde responded by bringing his free arm behind his back, his hand resting on his lower neck in a gesture of modest embarrassment.
"So...do you wanna get something to eat? It'll be my treat!"
Naruto didn't like how Gaara's hand had felt in his. Although the redhead was small, Naruto felt he should have more weight on him.
Gaara continued to give the blonde his indifferent expression. His sour mood had slightly cracked his mask, giving Naruto hints to as how he was feeling. The redhead didn't want to spend anymore time around the blonde than was absolutely necessary. However, Naruto offered him food - free food.
Gaara was able to attend university because the Land of Fire offered education for free; in other words, it was payed for by the government. However, students were still required to pay for their own food and housing.
The smaller male slightly nodded his head, deciding to endure the company of the blonde. Naruto gave a small but genuine smile before turning around walking towards the eastern dining center. Gaara's light footsteps sounded behind him, so Naruto started a one-sided conversation.
Gaara was somewhat amazed at the blonde's ability to chat so much. Even more astonishing was how the blonde managed to speak of various unrelated things as if they were vital to some main idea yet to be known. After a short walk that seemed to drag on for ages, Naruto guided Gaara into a building named 'Hokage Dining Center'.
"This is the eastern dining center. It's actually connected to the dorm complex I live in." the golden haired youth stated. "My favorite place to eat is called Ichiraku. They have the BEST ramen ever!" Naruto exclaimed. Gaara continued to follow the energetic blonde to the mentioned restaurant. It was small in size compared to its neighboring pizzeria and deli.
"I'll be ordering ramen for myself, but you go ahead and order anything you want. It doesn't have to be from ichiraku either." Flashing another brilliant smile, Naruto went on to order his lunch. After selecting to eat from the deli, Gaara went to stand in line. Naruto strolled over as Gaara was placing his order and proceeded to give the cashier a ten dollar bill. After receiving his change, the pair waited for their orders to be called out.
Gaara received his first and sat down at a booth in an alcove area of the dining room. Naruto quickly found him and sat himself across from the redhead.
Naruto continued talking through mouthfuls of his pork ramen dish. Gaara was almost appalled by the speed at which the blonde devoured his meal.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
Gaara lifted his eyes to the blonde and waited for further elaboration.
"That's my name. You didn't hear the beginning of my awesome introduction earlier, right?."
Gaara didn't respond. Instead he resumed his slow consumption of the made-to-order sandwich that was presently occupying his hands.
Naruto let the redhead eat and once again assaulted Gaara's ears with a non stop chatter.
About half an hour had gone by when Gaara finally finished eating. Without a word to the blonde, he got up and placed his plate on the dish carousel before making his way toward the exit.
"Hey! where you goin?" Naruto asked as he followed Gaara.
"Home." Gaara replied, hoping it would satisfy the blonde.
"Do you need a lift?"
Gaara spoke with a tinge of annoyance and anger as he answered, "No."
The blonde frowned before plastering another smile on his face. He had noticed Gaara's address on his schedule and recognized it to be in the "ghetto" part of town. "Okay...but don't be afraid to find me if you need help."
Gaara didn't respond so Naruto left with saying, "I'll see you later!". The redhead didn't like the sound of the blonde's voice as he said that statement. It almost sounded knowing, as if the blonde just knew he would see Gaara later. The redhead quickly dismissed the thought as he reminded himself of the fairly large size of the university.
Gaara opened the door to his apartment. The door lacked insulation, which caused it to swell. This resulted in a constantly cold apartment with a door that dragged across the floor. The redhead had given up on trying to get the door to completely close. He had nothing to steal, so it didn't matter that he couldn't close the slab of wood enough to be locked.
The redhead then walked into the living room of his apartment. Along with the living room space, it contained a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Normally a one-bedroom apartment would be out of his budget; however, this particular apartment had a dramatically reduced price. It was located in the slums and not well taken care off. Everything was caked in years of dust, dirt, and grime from the previous tenants. Damage from a fire destroyed the stovetop on the barely working oven. The toilet had a mysterious green goo coating it. The carpet was mislaid, frayed, burned, and in some parts just gone.
With a small sigh, Gaara placed his schedule on the kitchen countertop. He didn't hate it here, in fact, it was better than his previous home. But that difference was one of atmosphere, not physical attributes.
The redhead backed up against a corner wall and slid down until he sat in an almost fetal position. His head was beginning to ache and he felt dizzy. A constant pounding was in his head as he faintly registered the sound of this front door opening.