Chapter 1

Gaara awoke to the annoying sound of his alarm clock. Disgruntled, he picked it up and threw it across the room. He didn't need this at five in the morning, especially, on the first day of school. He then got dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and a loose t-shirt, grabbing his black and red jacket and his bag on his way out to school. He was still contemplating about the dream he had about Naruto and him kissing. He started to turn a light scarlet and looked at the grey sky, thinking of the book he was currently reading. When he arrived at school he was greeted by Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru.

"Hi! Gaara!" Naruto said enthusiastically. Neji just waved. "Oh, hey Gaara, what's up?"said Shikamaru.

"Oh, hey, um nothing really…well I have to go to my locker, see ya."

Then Gaara heard somebody screaming "wait". He turned around and saw Naruto chasing after him.

"Wait up Gaara, why have you been avoiding me lately? Did I do something wrong?" asked Naruto slightly saddened.

"Well you see… it's not you, Naruto, it's me. I've just been busy lately, think nothing of it, and try not to be too mad at me." Gaara said this and began walking off again.

Naruto reached his hand out and touched Gaara's shoulder. "Wait, can't we hang out like we used to?"

Gaara thought about this for a second, he knew he had feelings for Naruto, but to what extent he wasn't sure. Then he thought if he kept him away, Naruto would never know his true feelings.

To ease his worries, Gaara asked, "How about we go get some ramen afterschool, then hang out at my house, my treat." Naruto smiled happily, knowing Gaara was back to normal.

They then headed off to class. First hour was Social Studies.

"Good morning class. My name is Sasori; you may call me Sasori-sensei. I will be your social studies teacher for this year. We'll get started off with a pre-test to see what you already know."

"Aw man, a test already!" Naruto groaned.

"Hey this year I'll help you study, 'k Naruto." Gaara said.

"Thanks! That'd help me out a lot." Naruto said thanking him.

After the pre-test, they were allowed to talk. Gaara, Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru sat together and talked.

"Hey, Shikamaru, I bet that was a breeze for you." Naruto said, looking as though he had ran a marathon.

"I guess it was, probably the same for Neji," Shikamaru said trying to change the subject.



"Why'd you bring me into this?!" Neji shouted.

Naruto then jumped in and said, "What about you, Gaara?"

"Well I guess it was in-between," Gaara said in an almost emotionless tone.

They then just sat and talked about what they did over the summer, and then the bell rang, releasing the group from their first hour. Next class was art. They walked into the art room and felt a creepy peto vibe, yet they still went in.

"Hello children, my name is Deidara, sit wherever you like. Today, I want you all to draw a beautiful piece of art. I'll be over at my desk if you have any questions." He then walked over to his desk and murmured to himself, "Yes children, come, sit on my lap, I'll help you."

They all twitched when they heard this.

Quickly changing the subject, "Yay! No test! I know what I'm ganna draw…RAMEN!!" Naruto shouted happily. Sakura, Gaara, and Naruto went to sit at a table, followed behind by Sasuke. Gaara never thought about art. He never really could draw, but besides that he didn't know what to draw. He was thinking about drawing a group of his friends, but crumpled up his paper and restarted. He then drew a picture of a family, behind them was a small child sitting alone in the bitter darkness, with tears rolling down the child's cheek. Naruto glanced at Gaara's paper to see what he was drawing, but to what he saw he said nothing.

"What do you think of mine?" Naruto said holding up his sketch pad. He drew a giant bowl of ramen which seemed to be full of many kinds, and up at the top was Naruto ready to dive in. In response to this, everyone laughed, all except Gaara. He just sat there looking into space.

Their other classes went by fast. Gym with Kakashi and Gai, Math with Lady Tsunade, English with Jiraiya, and last, Science with Orochimaru.

After sixth hour, Naruto hurried to Gaara's locker, so they could get going.

"Oh, hey Naruto. Ready to go?" Gaara asked putting his books in his locker.

"Yeah!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

As Naruto and Gaara were walking to the Ramen shop, Gaara was thinking, "What am I going to say to him? It's just, m…my heart feels strained, I don't think I can hold it in any longer."

"Why so quiet Gaara?" Naruto asked troubled.

Again Gaara answered the same, "Just a lot on my mind."

Naruto sighed, "Did you want to skip our plans, I really don't mind." Gaara could see the honesty in his eyes, though they were deeply saddened. "I didn't even think about that, N…Naruto at my house," Gaara started to turn a light blushing red just at the thought of this.



"No...um it's fine…what kind of ramen do you want?" Gaara asked Naruto.

"I'll have whatever you're having," Naruto said while smiling at Gaara. So then Naruto got seconds, thirds, fourths…

twitch, twitch "Damn Naruto! Gunna make me go broke from all the ramen you eat! sigh At least I got to spend time with him…I think I m…might, l…l…love him."gasp Gaara was now ravishing red. Naruto reacted to this by reaching over and stroked Gaara's cheek; he then turned even redder. Then Naruto continued by reaching out and taking Gaara's hands and pressing them against his own face. Slowly Naruto leaned in and kissed Gaara's cheek.