title: My Delicate Heart Condition
author: myinukoi
warning(s): strong friendships; au
pairing(s): gaanaru & a bit of sasunaru - both are friendship but can be taken as light shonuen-ai
disclaimer: i disclaim.
summary: No wonder Iruka lectured me on my pranks and Jiraiya flicked off the TV when monsters came on and Tsunade was always shushing me. We all had bad hearts.
//myinukoi;; Inspired by Toni Cade Barbara's short story.
---
The minute I heard the door close, signaling Iruka was back from Christmas shopping for the other orphans, my head snapped up and away from my comic book. Jeez, I hope this year Iruka will give me a hint at what he got me for Christmas!
I leaped from my bed and rushed past the other bedrooms, dodging and ducking away from the other residents in the hallway.
As I reached the top of the staircase, I glanced down and caught sight of Iruka's familiar brown ponytail. My eyes widened with wonder as I took in the heart-warming vision of the extravagant large bags in his hands. I gave a loud whoop of laughter as I rushed down the stairs. I was fully prepared to bombard my beloved sensei with questions of the bags' contents, but I was stopped short as Iruka placed the bags in his right hand onto the floor and then put a finger up to his lips in quiet warning, as he sometimes does to shush me.
"Naruto, let's not have any funny stuff for a while," he began and I knew exactly what he was talking about, as I was sure 'funny stuff' was a subtle reference to my, if I do say so myself, ingenious pranks. But as to why he was making me stay low-key . . .?
And, ah! There behind him was a new kid! He seemed around nine or ten, my age - pretty cool. And lucky me, he was an odd ball! Crazy red, red, red hair, light green eyes, and pretty pale skin. His skin was almost as pretty as Teme's or Sakura-chan's . . . He had a kinda jumpy look to him, and he was wearing some crappy rags for clothes. And that look in his eyes - oh boy! I could tell, before I even cared to notice the dark circles, that this kid hasn't slept in a looong time.
Then, Iruka explained to me this new kid, Gaara, had a romantic heart. So, of course, I took him under my wing as my prank-pullin' protégée, and decided not to pull any scary jokes on him.
He later clarified that he had, instead, a rheumatic heart, but I don't see much difference. Anyway, I told Iruka that Gaara ought to be moved out of Mizuki-sensei's wing and be given a wing with a nice sensei, such as himself; one who would respect his romantic heart. I, of course, would know how harsh Mizuki could be, seeing as I was not only an orphan in his wing of "care," but the brutal blunt of the majority of his quips as well.
Thankfully, Mizuki can't hurt my feelings too much since Teme, a.k.a. Sasuke, is there as well - and even though he's far younger, he gets Mizuki's respect. Sasuke used to be my play boyfriend, but sometimes, he'd leave me to Mizuki so he can do some research on his insane brother's whereabouts. He acts like he's some kind of freakin' detective and I'm all like, 'Dude, you're ten!'. And everyone knows you're not supposed to leave your devastatingly handsome play boyfriend all to his lonesome. He might get snatched away!
Once, during lunch, Sakura-chan, the prettiest girl in the whole orphanage, went up to him and asked him to be her boyfriend. I was kinda ticked at first because he was my boyfriend . . . but I could forgive Sakura-chan for anything. Anyway, he turned her down, and he was really harsh too, and she was so embarrassed. I could feel her tears before I could see them. I told Sasuke that he didn't deserve Sakura-chan and if a single tear were to drop from her eyes because of him, I would be forced to waste him, the poor bum! Then he said, "Oh, don't be stupid, Dobe. Sakura just gives her heart away to just about anyone, and so carelessly, too. Why should I feel as though it has any worth?"
And I told him right then and there that I was not his play boyfriend anymore and I would rather grow up to marry Frankenstein than to grow up and be his wife.
-
Gaara and I were getting along so well! He had replaced that Teme so fast. Gaara was my new best friend! Every time the two of us walk past, Sasuke would look at us really hard and sometimes, Gaara would duck his head and walk a bit faster, but I'd grab his hand and slow him down. Gaara shouldn't be scared of someone like Sasuke. Okay . . . well, maybe he should - but Teme wouldn't touch Gaara, I was sure!
One day, as Gaara was meeting up with me in the lunch line, I saw him get stopped by Sasuke, and curious as ever, I went up to the pair and I got an earful of the conversation.
"Oh yeah, those sure are some pretty eyes, Sabaku-san. Quite beautiful, and I'm jealous in my own right . . . they shine with something rather captivating . . ." And poor Gaara went for it, turning toward me and fluttering his eyelashes like some flirt, making his lids droop over his eyes, which were, to be honest, very creep-looking and that was really all there was to it. As soon as his back was turned, Teme made a face at Gaara's display and his group of friends just busted out laughing. So I had to beat up a few right then and there and promised to get the rest later for being so gosh darn dumb, laughing at a kid with a romantic heart.
-
Christmas time came faster than I would've ever thought and I was only so happy to give and receive gifts. Iruka-sensei had gone ahead and had gotten me some Ichiraku ramen coupons. He told me I could use it the next time the orphanage got an open city field trip. Sakura-chan had sewed me this kind of sleeping cap that looked a bit like a walrus that was trying to eat my fine hair, but I gave her a huge hug all the same 'cuz I was sure that with it on, I wasn't going to have any nightmares nowhere soon. Gaara had made me a kickass picture of an orange fox, eating ramen and if I owned a fridge, trust that it would have been the only piece of artwork on it - front and center! Instead, I settled for stapling it on the wall next to my bed, so it could be the first thing I see every morning and the last before I hit the sack.
Everyone was in a pretty jolly mood, Kaka-sensei traded his Icha Icha for 'Twas The Night Before Christmas and was reading it to a good number of the younger kids. Tsunade traded her sake for eggnog and passed it all around. So surprising, 'cuz she's actually rather selfish. We had a bunch of food, and though ramen wasn't a part of the holiday feast, I made sure I would be sleeping on a full stomach!
There were so many people and I just couldn't help myself and I started up a scary story, one where Santa's reindeer would come into the orphanage and nibble off everyone's toes, but then Gaara started to whimper a bit so I was prepared to change the plot to something a bit more cheerful. But before I could do that, Mizuki picked up my story and added on about how the elves would take the toys meant for orphans and add a bit of anthrax and Santa would pass up the cookies and gobble up the hearts of underprivileged kids. Poor Gaara; his whimpers got louder and louder and louder and all of a sudden, he dropped to the floor and was rolling around, screaming.
All the kids went crazy, scattering around and yelling, each much louder than Gaara himself, and the senseis could barely gather us up - me, too; I'm not gonna lie. But I was trying to get to Gaara! My best buddy was rolling around, obviously disturbed, and all I could do was watch as Asuma and Kakashi carried him away to the infirmary.
-
Later that night, as I was trying to sneak Gaara some gingerbread cookies from our earlier Christmas party, I overheard Iruka and Tsunade chewing out Mizuki.
"You've been terrorizing that child ever since he arrived! Just like you've been doing Naruto before!"
"Terrorizing? I was just telling them all a story -- "
"All your story was about was hearts, gobbling up hearts, underpriv --"
"Mizuki, you were directing it all at that poor boy. You should be -- "
"I wasn't talking about him!" He denied vehemently. "They're both underprivileged kids, after all. I mean, all the kids are underprivileged."
I huddled into the shadows to avoid detection and hit a solid door. I turned around and discovered it as the infirmary. Entering, I immediately caught sight of Gaara's red hair so I rushed to his side, almost expecting him to wake up and give me one of those 'just kidding' soft smiles.
But he continued to sleep.
"I'm an underprivileged kid, too," I whispered absently as my hand found itself raking its way through his hair. No wonder Iruka lectured me on my pranks and Jiraiya flicked off the TV when monsters came on and Tsunade was always shushing me.
We all had bad hearts.
I crawled to his side and under the blankets; I nestled my head into his chest, taking his arm and draping it over my middle. I made him my fortress because, surprisingly, I was feeling quite weak right then. While waiting for him to awake, I ate all the cookies, creating some uncomfortable crumbs between us.
"You have a romantic heart," I whispered to him drowsily as sleep began to claim me. I leaned up to kiss his chin and the settled back. "You will have to be very careful."
-
Tsunade couldn't tell the difference. She didn't notice that I didn't pull pranks anymore, or sneak out late at night to go to the movie theater and watch the latest creature feature, or race Kiba to the edge of the roof, or hold my breath, or run across the tracks when the train near the orphanage was just in sight. As far as she was concerned, I was still the same rambunctious, loud-mouthed jokester blond.
But Iruka had known I had changed and I had overheard him saying to Kaka-sensei over the phone, "He's becoming so mature these days. He's really growing up." I didn't tell him about my secret, that I knew about my heart. And I was kinda glad Sakura wasn't around, because I would have babbled it to her and scare her half to death.
But later, I promised myself, I'll ask Jiraiya how to outgrow my underprivileged heart. I'll train myself, and then share my knowledge with my prank-pullin' protégée. How to outgrow an underprivileged heart . . . I'm sure Gaara, too, would love to know.
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//myinukoi;; I hope some of the connections between the Naruto-verse and my AU can be detected.
A bit of terminology?
A rheumatic heart is a heart that has been damaged by rheumatic fever, a childhood illness that commonly involves the heart, joints, skin, and brain. Mostly appears in children 5 through 15.
An underprivileged child is a child belonging to a group suffering of poverty and discrimination, especially in education. Take note that the children in this fic do not understand what Mizuki meant when he labeled them as underprivileged.
Hmm... Happy Holidays?