Chapter 3
Lunch
Hinata slipped through the lunchtime crowds as quickly as possible. Every few minutes, she looked back to make sure that Gaara was following her. Naturally it was much easier for Hinata to pass through the throng than it was for Gaara - she was much smaller in build than he but he fought his way through so that he was usually only a step or two behind her.
As such they reached the cafeteria in no time and they walked in together after Gaara pushed open the door. They entered the lunch line and five minutes later were both standing in the centre of the cafeteria. Hinata was looking around for Tenten and Gaara was waiting to see what she did next.
Suddenly Gaara heard someone call his name. He followed the sound of the voice to a table on the side of the cafeteria where his siblings were seated. Kankurou beckoned to him and he turned back to Hinata who immediately smiled reassuringly at him and assured him that it was all right if he left her. He nodded and headed over to his siblings, mildly annoyed at losing this opportunity to talk to Hinata and get to know her better. Shortly after Gaara left, Hinata spotted Tenten who was sitting alone at a table in the back and she quickly made her way over to her.
Gaara slipped into the empty seat opposite his siblings and set his lunch tray down next to the other tray on the table. They were arguing about something when he approached but as he sat down, they stopped squabbling and turned their gazes on him.
"Hey Gaara. How is your day going?" Temari asked after he settled himself.
"Yeah. You getting along with the other brats?" Kankurou asked as he swiped a fry from Temari's plate.
As Gaara looked into the hopeful, expectant faces of his elder siblings, he felt guilty as he thought about his behaviour in homeroom. How could he behave like that, knowing the sacrifice that his siblings had made for him? It was for him that they had moved, for him that they had left the place they'd known all their lives where all their friends were to come here to Konoha where they knew no one. They did all that so that Gaara could have a better life, a normal one. They wanted him to live in a place where he could be accepted, where he could have his first real friends.
He sighed, knowing what he had to do. "Yeah, everything's fine. But that reminds me - there's something I need to do."
He got up and slowly made his way over to where Kiba was talking to Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji Akimichi. "Hey."
Kiba looked up and then scowled when he realized who it was. "Yeah?"
"Look, I...just wanted to apologize. I've been nothing but insulting to you since I got here. So sorry about that."
Kiba blinked in surprise - that certainly wasn't what he had expected Gaara to say. Gaara began to get a little worried as Kiba just continued to stare at him. Naruto, Chouji and Shikamaru remained silent, waiting for Kiba's response.
Then Kiba's face broke into a grin, "Apology accepted. I guess we just got off on the wrong foot. How 'bout we start over?" Gaara gave him a small smile as relief washed over him. He was glad that he hadn't already ruined his chances. "Sounds good."
"Cool. Well the name's Kiba Inuzuka, this is my dog Akamaru ("Arf!") and these guys are Naruto Uzumaki, Chouji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara."
"Nice to meet you. DATTEBAYO!"
Chouji and Shikamaru just nodded their acknowledgement.
"Well sit down man. You can tell us about the Sand village and we'll give you a little run down on the way things happen here," Kiba said to him.
Temari and Kankurou watched the whole exchange and then shared a look. "Looks like coming here really was the right decision to make," Kankurou said.
"Of course! I always make good decisions."
Kankurou snorted, "Right. This is from the girl who told me that seaweed was good to eat."
"People eat seaweed."
"Not straight from the ocean! My tongue was swollen for a week after that."
Temari laughed, "Anyway, I'm off. Meet me out front after school. Don't forget to tell Gaara." She got up and disappeared through the cafeteria doors. "Hmm...I wonder what she's up to. She couldn't have a boyfriend already."
A/N: This is probably gonna be my last update for a little while. Please READ AND REVIEW!!!!! And let me know what you think. Do you think I should continue?
