Hinata sat in her class and tried to focus. She had been expecting the week to go as all of her weeks went by, slow and boring. She never expected someone to come along and change all of that, well at least for today anyway. For once she wasn't dreading her lunch period. She looked down at her notebook to see she had completely ignored the teacher and doodled all over her notes page. Luckily the bell rang and she was free to leave. She put her notebook away and walked out of the room. She walked into the cafeteria and looked around.

A part of her thought it was all imaginary. And she wouldn't see Gaara and would just be making a fool of herself. She glanced around and felt her hopes crumble when she didn't see the red head. She dropped her gaze to the floor and let out a small sigh. Someone tapped her shoulder and she turned to see Gaara looking at her. "Hi," He frowned at the look on her face.

"Uh, hi," She smiled softly. "Where do you usually eat lunch?" Gaara shrugged and walked towards a table in the back. Hinata followed silently and stopped when Gaara pulled out a chair for her. "Thanks," She smiled shyly as she felt a blush creep up on her cheeks. The only time anyone pulled out her seat for her was when she was with her dad at some fancy restaurant. Or at home when the servants did so. He nodded and sat down next to her.

Hinata him as he pulled out a sketch book and opened it to an unfinished picture. She watched him sketch for a couple of minutes before pulling out her lunch box. She opened it and pulled out her chop sticks. "Um," She bit her lip nervously. She hadn't had a real conversation with anyone in five years. "Do…Don't you eat lunch?" Gaara looked up and frowned at her.

"Why do you stutter so much? Do I intimidate you or something?" Hinata turned red and shook her head. "And no, I don't usually eat lunch unless my brother forces me. My sister usually just scolds me over the phone," Hinata looked at him with a curious expression. "My dad still works in Suna, he thought we'd be better off at this school so he transferred my brother and I to Konoha, Temari, my sister goes to college so he couldn't ship her off," Hinata nodded and went back to eating her lunch quietly.

"Do you eat breakfast and dinner, at least?" Gaara shrugged. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. It all depended on what was going on at the apartment. Hinata frowned and looked in his eyes, praying that he was joking. He looked over at her curiously and seemed shocked by her anger. "It's not really good for you to be skipping meals," Gaara shrugged once more.

"My brother can't cook, and I don't always have time to make something for dinner. We have cereal so I do eat breakfast, most of the time," Gaara admitted trying to calm Hinata slightly. She sighed and nodded. She doubted he would take her words seriously any way, he probably didn't even know she existed until this morning.

Gaara frowned at her response. He was expecting more of a fight from her. "So how long have you been getting left behind?" He asked smoothly. She gasped and looked at him wide-eyed. "I mean I usually see you by yourself everywhere. And I assume your 'friend' or whoever that was has been doing it for at least all of this year," Hinata blushed out of embarrassment but was happy he couldn't see the sadness in her eyes as she looked at her lunch. She mumbled a response and started playing with her food. Gaara sighed before asking her to repeat. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you," Hinata glanced up and noted that he looked sincere.

"Since sixth grade," She looked back down to continue playing with her food. "No one's ever really seen me as anything more than a friend, or someone to get answers from. And in sixth grade, my last friend got more interested in the girls on the cheerleading team and getting their attention than me. So he said his goodbyes and that was it," She played with a chopstick in her right hand and kept her eyes trained on what was left of her food.

"That's horrible," Gaara looked at her, hoping she would look up again. "If it makes you feel better… I haven't really had a real friend… Ever," He cringed at how pathetic that sounded. Hinata glanced up with a curious look and he let out a deep sigh. "My dad is Kazekage and no one wants to associate with his kids because it could cause them problems later on," Gaara found himself gripping his pencil tightly. He had never told anyone that. He hadn't even told his sister about that being the reason he never brought friends home. Everyone avoided him and treated him like he was some kind of monster.

Hinata felt a strange connection to Gaara. She swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke softly. "It kind of sounds how I was treated. A lot of people wouldn't talk to me because of my father. They all treated me like I was some kind of porcelain doll," She blew her bangs out of her face. "Kiba and Shino were the only ones who treated me like a person. Shino went to a different middle school, and then went on some entomology internship freshman year, he won't be back until next year. And Kiba… Well," She sighed and glanced at the table where the top of the popularity food chain sat. "He's popular, and I'm not," She glanced back down at her hands.

Gaara frowned. "I hate that everything is set around cliques," Hinata glanced up at him, shocked. "I mean, I guarantee you that some of the people at that table are complete and utter fakers. I guarantee you that they all have their own dirty secrets, and secret dorky pleasures. It's ridiculous that people only notice you if you dress in designer clothes or are the star of some sort of team," He groaned the more he thought about it. "It's complete bullshit."

Hinata smiled and nodded. "I've always thought that. Kiba actually mentioned something at one point. 'If you dressed differently, and wore your hair down every once in awhile… People wouldn't treat you as badly as they do.'" Hinata let out a deep sigh. "He doesn't understand that I want people to treat me a certain way because of me. Not because of how I look or what I do," She bit her lip realizing that probably didn't make much sense.

"I know what you mean. You should be treated because of the way you act and how you are, not what you do or what you wear," Gaara stated. Hinata smiled and nodded. "I don't think the people here will realize that any time soon," Hinata gave a small, sad smile.

"Then it's their loss."


A/n: Alright, so after boring myself into typing more of this... Here's chapter 2! Someone commented on how Gaara was a little OOC, but I'm not trying to write Gaara exactly like the anime/manga. It's a completely different story/universe sort of. So I know he talks a little too much to be Gaara but he is. Thanks for reading and please let me know if you like it and want me to continue it.

Katie