Er...hi? (creeps out from behind giant exam book). I guess I should start with an apology. I am really sorry this chapter has taken so long to be posted/written. You probably don't care why so I won't bore you with the details only my life has been really hard over the last few months and fan fiction was the last thing on my mind. Now however I have three months off and I may (gasp) start updating regularly again. I aim to finish this in those three months. And my other fics. But this is main priority.
And yeah, sorry if it's not that good...I'm kind of rusty.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, faved and alerted...I personally reply to most of them, but my internet dies at the most inconvenient times, so sorry if you didn't get one. I love all of them. And those people who just read it. Have some love as well. I'm just a loveable human being :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, so don't sue. Plot is mine though...no one else would want it...
Without further ado (not that you bothered to read the above sentences) I present to you chapter eight...which is also the longest chapter I have ever written (gasp)
Gaara was thinking. His hair was currently dripping shower water onto his pillow and a puddle was forming around his head, but he was so engrossed in his 'thinking' that he hardly noticed. The cold early morning shower he'd just taken had woken him enough for him to realise that his 'epiphany' of sorts last night may be a slight problem. And that was the reason he was lying fully clothed on his bed in the dark thinking of Naruto. He hadn't thought it through.
He wanted to convince him to live. But how exactly was he supposed to do this. In all the films he'd seen, the man had captured the woman's heart through various pointless acts of romance, and cured her broken heart (these suicidal feeling were always caused by a broken heart, never anything vaguely practical). But as far as he was aware, Naruto had no broken heart. Gaara himself was also not one to be particularly 'romantic' per say.
He wasn't even fully aware the extent of his interest to Naruto. He knew he found him interesting, but wasn't sure how much further it went. He definitely found the other attractive. Especially when wearing jeans. Tight...jeans. Yeah. And he liked being with him to an extent. But he was still confused. He didn't even 'love' his siblings more then was obliged, and even then he was certain the extent of his 'feelings' only just reached the 'putting up with mild annoyance'. He put up with Kankuro's Leona Lewis obsession because he had to, because the only other option was murdering his older sibling and Gaara really had no intention of serving a jail sentence. Not because of his 'deep affectionate love' towards the other.
He'd decided though. Ignoring his confusing reasoning on the matter, he had decided to 'convince Naruto to live', therefore he bloody well would 'convince Naruto to live'. There was no way he was backing down now. It was Gaara v's Naruto's-Various-Suicidal-Thoughts-And-Tendencies, and despite having a shorter team name, he was going to win. Now all he had to do was decide how he was going to do it. He could...well...he could stop him dying? That wouldn't really be convincing him to live though...
On the other hand what was he supposed to do now? He was now a 'boyfriend'...what did this require? From films he saw that they'd give girlfriends flowers and chocolate, but Naruto wasn't a girl and he really didn't want to be giving the other chocolate...he was hyper enough without the extra sugar. Maybe it was all the coffee he drank...
Gaara sighed and reached up to grip his hair. This was harder then he'd first thought. He now had (shudder) 'responsibility'. He winced as he felt his fingers turn damp. On further inspection he found a Gaara sized damp spot spread across his pillow and sat up, blinking.
His ears strained to pick up a faint noise. It sounded like it was coming from his half unpacked suitcase. Narrowing his eyes and glaring in the vague direction of the case he stood and walked gracefully (he definitely did not shuffle) across the room and casually (100% not groping around madly like a deranged blind person) flicked on the light switch. Wincing as the light hit his eyes he turned to the situation at hand.
Operation 'vibrating suitcase'. Anyone lesser then Gaara at that moment in time would have started humming the mission impossible theme tune out loud. Gaara, the mature being he is, merely 'thought' it. He found, from experience, that this gains a lot less strange looks (especially in the presence of other people), whilst still allowing the satisfaction of being a spy (if only for 30 seconds).
There were only so many things it could be to be perfectly honest, each more unlikely then the less.
A bomb. This was deemed incredibly unlikely considering the fact that it was he who had packed the case, and he would have remembered packing an explosive devise in amongst his clothing. It just wasn't something you'd tend to forget really. Yeah. At the very least he'd of rememberered thinking 'well this is weird' on viewing the bomb.
If it wasn't bomb, what...no. Gaara's eyes narrowed. Again. It was vibrating. Vibrating. What vibrated better then a vibrator itself? Now Gaara was completely sure he had not himself packed a...you know. Meaning if it was...one of them, it would have had to have been Kankuro. Yes, he could see it now, Kankuro creeping into his room and depositing the...thing into his suitcase.
Feeling his anger rise at the mere thought, he stalked over to his suitcase (still looking amazingly hot mind you, even during mid-stalk), and ripped the zip across, yanking out various articles of clothing to get his hands on it (merely so he could remove it of course. Not for, er, 'usage'...).
There. There is was. That small shiny...mobile phone? Gaara felt his glare lessen slightly, only to return at full power. Since when did he own a mobile phone? Why was there a mobile phone in his suitcase? That would indicate that it was his, and he most certainly did not have one.
Temari. That's it. She must have bought him one. Why? Why had she wasted her money on something he neither wanted nor needed? They were annoying. They beeped, rang, vibrated. The amount of boy's he'd seen walking down the streets, their tracksuits round their ankles playing 'rap music' from their mobiles had been enough to put him off the idea. That and the fact that it would encourage 'interaction'. He'd feel obliged to talk to people if they rang him. When he left the house it was so that they wouldn't know where he was, so he could escape, if he had a phone with him, it would defeat the object. They'd be able to speak to him wherever he went.
He was tempted to throw the thing back in the suitcase and set it on fire. Or to crush it with his black doc martins. Or to throw it hard as he could against the wall and laugh at it's cruel fate. It was a phone. It could not stop him, he, Gaara, ruler of all things electronic or otherwise. But no. The fact it had vibrated had meant he'd received a call or message of some kind. Before he decided the phones untimely death, he'd at least check who the hell had contacted him.
He flipped it open, staring in disbelief at the pink rose hovering behind the 'one new message'. It was mocking him. He just knew it. Ignoring it for the time being, he clicked on various buttons until something happened (he noted that the left button seemed to open the text...although he did click on about ten others, so then again it may not).
Hey Gaara, this is Temari.
I gt you a phne so u betr use it.
Just wnted to ask how it was going?
Have u mde any friends?
Me and Kank r gonna be in cafe in town 2moz.
Meet us at 4.30 kk?
Temari.
The first thing Gaara noticed was the merged use of 'text talk'. Temari had a contract phone as far as he was aware. What was the point of shortening words when you got free texts? He noticed that she hadn't managed to succeed fully in using the 'text talk'. He was sure 'friends' could be shortened. And '2moz'. What? Tomorow? It didn't even have a 'z' in it. Where did the 'z' come from?
Gaara sighed. Then realised what the text was asking. 'Have you made any friends'? Had he? A mental image of Naruto flashed up, flushed and sweating. Beating down the blush he clicked on reply. He typed on word. 'Yes'. And send. He didn't need to add that that friend wasn't just a friend. He was a 'boyfriend'.
The realised his mistake. Now they were going to think he was meeting them. Great. Just great. He hoped Temari had an incredibly loud text tone, and his 6.00 text would cause a fatal 'accident' as the noise caused her to fall ungracefully to her death from her bed. Yes the chances were slim, but her bed was quite tall...you know, for a bed.
Ignoring the pansy background (literally and figuratively) he clicked on contacts. Wow. He had a contact. Temari. What a surprise, his sister had added her number to his contact list. Some part of him was embarrassed that his only contact was his sister, but that part was beaten down quite ruthlessly by his masculinity which assured him that the less contacts, the more manly you were. You were so manly, no one wanted to talk to you. That shows real masculinity.
He briefly wondered if Naruto had a phone. Another urge arose, this time to knock on Naruto's door and ask for his number. This urge was shot and killed by his common sense reminding him not only of the time, but the fact that that would be pretty desperate. So with one last glare at his pansy, he slammed the phone shut, pocketed it, and headed out his room for some beautiful caffeine...
Naruto was wide awake. He was clumsily hitting the keys of his laptop as he typed with one finger stabbing each key with enough force to kill. Sometimes he pressed too hard, too long and a line of letters appeared, causing him to jam angrily at the delete, often over deleting in his haste and having to re-type the whole word. It was worth it though. No, with his password in place (shiny123) no one could ever read his lists again. That was definitely worth a bit of button jamming.
"Shit," he whispered, misspelling wrist, the ominous red line appearing underneath to point out and mock his mistake. Well he'd leave it, just to spite it. And anyway those silent letters pissed him off. They were just so...silent...no he couldn't leave the red line there, it ruined his list. He right clicked and changed it with a sigh. There goes his inner rebel.
He was quite proud of his list. 'Ways to kill myself, by Naruto'. He didn't know why he wrote 'by Naruto' considering the fact that he would be the only one to read it. But he did, and as no one else would read it, no one could mock it.
1. Jump off bridge.
2. Overdose: need pills.
3. Slit wrists: need knife/razor.
4. Shoot myself: need gun.
He'd narrowed it down to those four and yet again it looked like the bridge was the most likely option. Just, for some reason, he didn't get such a buzz from planning his demise as he had done the week before. For some reason, Gaara kept flashing up into his thoughts. No. He had to stay focused. His death was going to be so perfect, so beautiful that they'd all feel guilty. That they'd all feel sorry. But Gaara.....
No. He opened google and typed in 'ways to kill yourself'. There. Focus on the task at hand. Not Gaara (as focus-able as he was). No luck though. They were all joke websites. 'Tie yourself to a dozen balloons and float to your death'. How about no. 'Various ways to kill yourself using fish tanks'? This was a joke. He was looking for practical ways. Mind you, any one who had had a successful suicide wouldn't exactly be around to blog about it...
He sighed. And thought of Gaara. Gaara with his red hair, his thin face, his slightly toned physique, tall stature, piercing green eyes....urgh, he needed a coffee. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed an on screen pop-up. 'How to kiss like a god'. That sounded promising. Naruto knew never to click on po pups. He knew all to well. But it was quarter to six in the morning and he'd spent all night plotting his death. He was tired, and he wasn't functioning quite right. So he clicked on it.
Two men. Two men together. Doing things. His eyes widened as he took in the provocative image, one man licking the other mans...their legs wrapped around...his tongue...SLAM.
He slammed the lid down. Naruto just blinked. He knew he had a blush that could rival Gaara's hair. And he knew he was still in his clothes from the day before. But at that moment he REALLY needed a coffee. Standing up, he walked out the room, eyes still wide, and shut his door quietly before making his way down the stairs. On entering the kitchen he saw the last person he could possibly want to see at that moment in time. Gaara. Sitting at the table glaring at what appeared to be a phone. Ignoring images that flashed up he smiled. He couldn't help it.
"Hey," he said. To the other boy's credit he didn't jump. Much. It could probably pass off as a twitch. Yeah.
"Hey," came the monotone reply, but Naruto saw him look away, trying to hide the fact he'd caught him unaware. Inwardly Naruto smiled. Hell yeah. He was a ninja.
"Is that your phone?" he asked. Gaara gave him a look as if to say 'no shit'. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Can I see?" he asked. Immediately the phone was grabbed back.
"No,"
Naruto ignored the sting of rejection he felt and ploughed on.
"Oh go on...please?" he asked, widening his eyes slighty. He saw Gaara try valiantly. It wasn't enough. Naruto had perfected the 'puppy dog' look years back. Now he thought about it, he really should have used it on Uchiha and co, rather then acting overly happy. It was a bit too late for that now though. It wouldn't have worked anyway. They'd still call him 'fag'.
"No,"
Wow. Gaara had resisted. That was a first. And he'd thought he'd got him...
"Why not?" he asked. There was no reply. Then a sigh.
"Fine," win "if you change the fucking background,"
Naruto nodded and held out his hand. Gaara dropped the phone into it and Naruto opened it, unable to prevent a sharp burst of laughter. A pansy. It was so ironic it was funny.
"Shut up," the red-head glared at him. Naruto grinned and clicked the menu button. Now where was that camera?
"It's not funny,"
"Sure it isn't Gaara," Naruto replied, dripping with sarcasm. Ah there it was.
"I didn't even choose it,"
"You say that Gaara, but we all know the truth," he focused the image.
"Shut up,"
"Your secret gardening urge is out in the open now," perfect.
"Shut...what was that flash?"
"Flash? What flash? I didn't see no flash?" Naruto was laughing inside so hard it hurt, but on the outside keep a cool fascade. He saw Gaara's glare intensify (he didn't think it were possible).
"What did you do Naruto?" he asked, his monotonic voice managing to ooze venom, whilst still sounding...well, monotonic.
"Do you really want to see?" Naruto replied, grinning. Gaara didn't even nod. Naruto turned the phone round, stifling a giggle. He could literally hear the grinding of the red-heads teeth as he saw the image.
"Naruto..."
"Don't you like it?" it said laughing, pulling it out of Gaara's reach (not that he tried to grab it...he was above that childish behaviour).
"Naruto..." It was more of a warning now.
"But you look so beautiful Gaara...the 'lazy eye' look is very in this season, and your mouth's open and everything!" okay, he was definitely pushing it now.
"Change-it," Naruto nearly gulped. Who knew two syllables could contain such raw killing intent.
"Fine, whatever," he muttered, opening the camera again, this time choosing to stand behind Gaara. Holding the phone in a 'myspace' style, he placed one arm round Gaara's shoulders (ignoring the inappropriate imagery from the picture he'd seen before...their arms were places no arms should be able to get).
"Smile," he said, grinning. It wasn't exactly fake either. He took it and turned the phone round, happy at the result. Gaara wasn't smiling, but he wasn't glaring as much as he normally did (probably out of shock). He removed his arm from Gaara's shoulder and selected the image as the wall paper. There, perfect. He turned to see Gaara giving him a 'look'. A look as if to say 'what the hell did you do that for?'. Naruto shrugged, quaking internally at what he was about to say.
"It's normal right? I mean we are dating right?" he waited, baited breath for the others reaction. Finally, the other boy nodded.
"Yeah," he said quietly. Naruto's grin widened.
"Do you want my number?" he asked, feeling slightly excited that he may soon be getting texts from someone other than T-Mobile. The other boy nodded, and Naruto quickly added his detail, taking yet another myspace shot for his caller ID, this time winking cheekily.
"Do you know your number?" he asked.
"I got the thing this morning," Gaara replied, taking a sip from his coffee (which reminded Naruto...he needed some, and he needed some soon).
"Is that a no then?" Naruto teased. Gaara didn't even grace him with an answer, instead just glaring at him over his mug. Which was being touched by his lips. His lips...oh god he was never clicking on anything other then google for the rest of his life. Which wouldn't be that long...but during that time, pop-ups were a 'no'.
He quickly called his phone, feeling his pocket vibrate and saved the number. He didn't dare risk another Gaara shot. He'd have to take the caller ID later. Instead he made his way over to the kettle.
"I just boiled it," he turned around to glance at Gaara and smiled.
"Oh okay," that was good. That meant less time would be wasted making the coffee, and more time could be spent drinking it. Win. He poured it onto the granules, watching as they melted. Or evaporated. Or something. They turned into coffee either way. As did the five spoon fulls of sugar. He stirred. He sipped. He sighed.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked Gaara, leaning on the counter top with one elbow propped by the now empty kettle.
"I don't," was the reply. Naruto furrowed his brow.
"Don't what?" he asked.
"Sleep," came Gaara's reply. Naruto opened his mouth and closed it.
"What?" came the reply after a few moments consideration. There was no reply.
"Why not?" he asked. He didn't expect a reply, and by the looks of Gaara's face neither did he. He heard one anyway.
"Nightmares," yeah...it must have slipped out. He had so many questions he wanted to ask about that answer, but refrained. It was obviously a sensitive subject. He added it to his list of things he wanted to know about Gaara. Yeah. He could officially make that list as well on Shiny. It was all good. But for now he could tell a subject change was needed.
"I get nightmares too," shit "not as much any more, but I used to get them every night," what happened to subject change? He watched as Gaara just nodded.
There was a thud from the upstairs followed by a shout.
"Fuck Sasuke, what the hell you doing hiding in the shower?"
"What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?"
"Having a shower?"
"Why do I put up with you, you fag?"
Ah, it seemed that Sasuke and Kiba were both awake. Naruto checked his watch. Indeed, it was the time in which the men of the house arose to begin their day. 7.30. Sure enough, his pocket began vibrating, and he hurriedly opened it and turned off his alarm. Hew still needed to set a new alarm tone since he'd deleted caramelldansen. Boys started appearing and walking casually in to join them in particular Neji and Shikamaru. They were doing that let's-not-look-Naruto-in-the-eyes-thing, which he ignored, but when they both started making 'small talk' it genuinely began to creep him out. What was with them lately? He'd only just replied hastily to Neji's 'Good morning' when Shikamaru started.
"Mornin' Naruto,"
"Morning," he said to the pony tailed boy, masking his suspicion. A thought hit him.
"Thanks again for helping with my laptop," he'd nearly said Shiny then, and god knows what they would have all thought...no, he knew exactly what they would have thought. It begins with 'f' and rhymes with leak.
Just as he said this a familiar, yet unwanted face appeared, towel drying their hair.
"It's no problem Naruto," Shikamaru had replied, lowering his gaze and dropping his voice.
"What is? Because being gay is definitely a big problem Shikamaru," Sasuke said, rubbing his hair. Naruto refrained from laughing at the spectacle. The pretty-boy's hair looked ridiculous all fluffed up like some poor animal forced to perch on his ego-inflated head.
"I helped him with his laptop, that's all," Shikamaru said, sounding unconcerned. If so then what was the glare Naruto was detecting etched across his features slightly?
"And why would you bother helping this freak?" Sasuke retorted. Shikamaru just carried on glaring. For some reason unknown to Naruto, Sasuke backed down. He just snorted with a quick 'whatever' and shoved past the other boy to the fridge.
"What you lookin' at fag?" he said, on catching Naruto's eye.
"Some poor animal perched on your head," that made a lot more sense in his head. Sasuke seemed to get the point anyway and his glare deepened (much like how Gaara's seemed to depending on how happy he was, only Gaara's was actually effective, Sasuke seemed to gather the look of a sexual predator...all that would achieve was getting the Uchiha name on a list, this time a lot more official then one of Naruto's 'who I want to die' lists).
"Fuck you," he said. Apparently emo-pretty-boy's brains cannot function before their hair has been straightened, hence the 'come back', which had the originality of a teabag. Not a lot.
Naruto decided to ignore him and not rise to the bait. It would be childish to retort with 'I know you want to, but can you refrain from thinking out loud, it's putting me off my coffee'.
"What did you just say fag?" oh. Had he spoken out loud? By the reaction he guessed he must have.
"Did you just imply I was gay? Did you just call me a fag?" Naruto sighed and turned to face the pretty-boy.
"You have more hair-care products then the average woman, spend twice the amount of time staring at your face in the mirror then the average woman and wear so much leather I'm surprised there's any cows left. Your so flaming I'm surprised your not on fire yet," he said calmly, grinning. Ha. That showed him. Stupid pretty boy. He took a sip of his coffee, ignoring the angry silence, and look of disbelief echoed on all boys faces (except Gaara who merely quirked the space where the eyebrow should have been upwards slightly).
"Fuck you you fucking homo, seriously just shut the fuck up. Go and SLIT YOUR FUCKING WRISTS you loser, NO ONE would give a shit if you went and DIED" it wasn't original. Not by a long shot. 'Fuck' was used a lot more times then necessary. But it still hurt. It still hurt to hear him say that. It hurt to think about. And as commotion occurred around him, he still couldn't think straight. As Gaara stood and slammed Sasuke into the fridge it didn't register. As Shikamaru started shouting at the boy, the words didn't process. Because he was right. No one would give a shit. No. No he was wrong. Gaara would care. Gaara would give a shit. Gaara had to give a shit. He had to care.
"Fuck you. You'd better watch it," he heard, as he snapped himself out of it. Gaara had Sasuke pinned to the fridge as Sasuke hissed this. Gaara didn't bat an eye, merely slammed him against it once more and let him go (which he did with a final indignant 'hn'). Naruto looked at him, there's eyes meeting for a second. He heard Shikamaru sigh, and walk out muttering. On looking around it seemed that Neji had left and no one else had entered. They were alone.
"Thanks," Naruto muttered. Gaara said nothing. He just stared at him, his eyes revealing nothing and his features blank. Then Naruto felt himself pulled into a short kiss, their lips meeting for barely seconds, crushed against each other in a bruising grip before he was released and the red-head walked out, not looking back. It was around this time, amongst the daze and sudden feeling of floating and flowers circling him in a dance to the 'lalalala' repeating in his head....that he realised he was still wearing clothes from the day before. Sighing, he made his way out the door...
Gaara had no idea why he'd kissed him. It was nice, hell great even, but he didn't know why he'd done it. Maybe because the shorter boy had looked so lost. That fucking pretty boy was lucky Gaara hadn't decided to grab one of the kitchen knives conveniently left on the counter and stabbed him in the pretty-boy-face. Or cut off his hair. Both acts would have caused him to die or something equally as dramatic.
How dare he fucking say something like that. One mystery solved though. Not really a mystery. Just wondering. He now knew that Shikamaru had read the notebook. And probably pretty-boy, by what the pinapple had been screeching. 'How can you say that when you read it?'. That was a confession if anything. Definitely. Luckily Naruto had been out of it at the time or Gaara would find himself in a whole other load of shit. He was already having to figure out 'boyfriending' and 'convincing someone to live', avoiding Naruto's wrath about the notebook would take severe effort. Maybe he should tell him what he saw. Then again, judging by his reaction when pretty-boy had even mentioned suicide, maybe that would not be such a good idea. Some saviour he would be if he told him and it drove him over the edge. No. He'd keep quiet, at least for now.
He was just finalising these thoughts as he stepped back out his room. He placed his bag over his shoulder. It was black and covered in safety pins. He personally considered himself a wizard with safety pins. It was just one of his many talents. Either way, as he shouldered his bag, he just so happened to see Naruto walk towards him. His 'boyfriend' (this was going to take some getting used to). In jeans again. So...tight. So...orange? Either way, they were tight. Squeezingly tight. He closed his mouth at the bright smile his...'boyfriend' gave him.
"Hey," he felt he should say something like 'are you okay?' to this reply, but his mouth wouldn't form the words, instead saying...
"Orange skinny jeans?" well at least he said something. Naruto looked affronted.
"The only colour for skinny jeans. You can't have black ones. Too boring. And anything else is just obnoxiously bright," he said nodding.
"And orange isn't?" Gaara asked, smirking. They began to walk down the stairs, side by side.
"Nope. Orange is a natural colour. Oranges are orange," Naruto said, still nodding to himself.
"But you're not wearing oranges," Gaara said.
"Nooo, but I'm wearing orange right? And oranges have vitamin C in them," okaaay...
"And what does vitamin C have to do with skinny jeans?" he asked. Naruto cocked his head.
"It means I'm healthy," he said, grinning.
"..no it doesn't" Gaara said, deadpan. Naruto shrugged.
"Well no. But I like orange," he said, grinning sheepishly.
"And you couldn't have said that to start with because?" Gaara asked as they reached the door.
"Because I'm an interesting individual who finds people who use three word sentences rather boring," Naruto said winking. Gaara felt he should have been mildly offended at what he was implying, but instead found it all rather amusing. He glared none the less, more mockingly then anything else. Naruto put his hands up.
"Luckily we don't know any of those people," he said hastily, though Gaara could tell he was only joking. He scoffed and opened the door, both of them walking out, still side by side.
They sat next to each other on the bus, ignoring the taunts. Well, not so much ignoring, rather imagining each of them being killed in equally painful ways. Gaara didn't rise to it though. It was hard to have a conversation when someone coughKibacough was having a rather loud conversation about you, at the back of the bus, to just about everyone on the bus. So they didn't talk. They just listened to music. Naruto offered him an earphone, but on inspecting his ipod found a mixture of decent music and shit. Who the hell was DJ Splash? No, he stuck with his own headphones, blasting deafness into his ears.
On stepping off the bus and into the building, he disentangled his crumpled timetable from his bag and glanced down. First thing first he had maths. Oh the joys. With some woman.
"Oooh you've got Anko. She's pretty tough," Naruto said nodding.
"I should know, I've got her first for maths," he said, his face dropping. Gaara tilted his head.
"Doesn't that we've both got her then?" he asked. Naruto's head shot up and he grabbed the paper.
"Oh yeah," he said, after a moments deliberation. Gaara could have rolled his eyes then, he really could. He could have, but he didn't. He felt Naruto grab his arm.
"Come on, we can't be late then. You'll just get away with it for being new, but I'll be killed in some ruler-related accident involving Anko, and a ruler," Gaara allowed himself to be dragged along, and looked at Naruto questioningly.
"That bitch would aim to kill Gaara. Maiming just wouldn't cut it," he said, and Gaara felt his hand slide down slightly, closer to his hand. Gaara felt himself pulled and dragged though various crowds of people (all giving them odd looks, which Gaara just repelled with his manliness), until they stopped outside a door. Gaara felt Naruto drop his wrist and watched as the blonde checked the time. He looked up smiling.
"We made it," he said happily, just as a woman appeared from behind the door, causing Naruto to jump. Definitely not Gaara. He never jumped. He looked up to observe the woman. She was average size, with short purple hair. It was dyed. Gaara could see the beginning of roots. She was wearing a fishnet top over a shirt (odd combination) and shorts, all in all looking nothing like a maths teacher.
"Naruto," she said. Gaara noticed the blonde jump again slightly. He saw her eyes flicker to him.
"Who's this?" she asked, smirking slightly. He glared back.
"Gaara. He's, er, new," Naruto said. Gaara noticed the grin was back. The overly happy fake grin that appeared 98% of the day.
"Gaara?" she repeated. Gaara nodded sharply.
"Weird name eh? Bit like Naruto," she said. Gaara refrained from making a comment on her hardly normal name. He heard Naruto squawk indignantly.
"What's wrong with Naruto? It's a great name, it means 'so-much-better-then-you'" sure enough, Naruto was standing, the defiance however not looking so fake.
"It means fish cake, kid" the maths teacher said. Gaara watched as Naruto glared, then seemed to realise something.
"Oh, and Gaara's name isn't weird either," he said, as an afterthought. Gaara snorted.
"Yeah yeah, whatever kid. I hope your ready for some Pythagoras," maths woman said. Naruto gave an overly dramatic 'noooo', turning to Gaara for help. Gaara shrugged. Frankly he was just a bit confused. Naruto sighed and conceded, muttering under his breath before making his way into the class room. It was empty, so for once Gaara was no directed to a free seat, instead sat next to the blonde as his 'fellow' students piled in. What fun.
He saw those girls from history he was forced to sit next to, whose names he had forgotten, and the girl they were talking about sit at the opposite side of the classroom. Inwardly, Gaara was cheering. Outwardly, he was unmoved, like an ice sculpture, only so much hotter. Yeah, that sounded about right. The maths woman stood and faced the classroom, now full of chattering students. Gaara just looked bored.
"Alright kids. Pythagoras," there were collective groans (Naruto's particularly loud earning him a few glares. Gaara glared back twice as glaringly and felt a sharp satisfaction as they backed down).
"Oh shut up the lotta you. It ain't fun, and it ain't gonna be of any use to you when you're drowning in a lake, but when your sitting in an exam your future on the line you will be thanking me. Is that clear?" there was a collective yes.
"Now turn to page 32 and read it. You've got brains use 'em" she said, sitting back on the desk and examining her nails. There were a few scattered yes's. She looked up.
"What was that?" Gaara felt like he was looking in the mirror for that second, the general evil she had managed to covey in those three words was something she had no doubt practised long and hard to achieve (Gaara knew he had). There was a firm 'yes miss'.
Then the fire alarm rang.
Every student in that room saw the pure hatred cloud her face, hence the reason Gaara found himself dragging Naruto out the door, trying to ward off student pressed against him in the rush, with his aura. They must have sensed the danger, as Gaara had soon dragged Naruto out of the classroom and into the clear. Then realised he had no idea where to go. He faced Naruto, letting go of his wrist at the same time, as if just realising he was holding it. Naruto didn't react to this, using his other hand to point.
"We line up on the car park," he said. Gaara nodded, and left to follow the crowds of students. Naruto caught up with him, talking over the noise.
"That was lucky," he said. Gaara glanced at him.
"Can't you do Pythagoras?" he himself could remember doing it last year, with his 'tutor'. He'd hated it then, and hated it now, but could still do it. Naruto looked at him oddly.
"Sure I can. I don't like it though," he said. Gaara didn't answer, merely continued his journey through the crown of students. God, it was like an infestation. He felt Naruto jog to catch up with him, nudging his arm, as they made their way down the schools steps. The bell was still ringing at an incredibly annoying pitch, and it made Gaara want to crush who ever had started that fire.
"It's a shame it's just a practise," he heard Naruto say. He turned to face his slightly.
"Practise?" he asked. Naruto nodded, and Gaara felt him grab his sleeve slightly, so he wasn't split up. The students around them were literally running. And screaming. Gaara wished they'd just die.
"Yeah, it's just a drill. The head's already standing there," Naruto said, and Gaara glanced over to where Naruto was pointing. A woman stood on the grass by the car park, her breasts almost twice the size of her head. Gaara concluded then and there, that the school he had been sent to was not normal. Not by a long shot. The woman wasn't wearing a skirt. Or trousers. Just a shirt that hung low, covering her 'vital areas'. Repeat, the school was not normal.
"Oi, line up by class," she shouted to the students approaching, and Gaara saw about thirty lines of various students. Her felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Anko's is this way," he heard Naruto say, and felt himself get tugged toward the line.
"Anko'll be here in a few minutes, she'll need to calm down from her precious Pythagoras being interrupted," Naruto said, giggling slightly. Gaara smirked.
"This happen often?" he asked. Naruto nodded.
"Yup," he smiled brightly. Gaara was glad to see it wasn't completely fake.
"And how many of these involve real fires?" Gaara asked. Naruto looked thoughtful, and began counting on his fingers before concluding...
"None,"
Well this was productive, Gaara thought sarcastically. He looked around for something to ease the boredom of standing doing nothing, and found his eyes meet another's. She was average height,, pretty normal looking other then her red eyes and hair. Gaara was not just angry at the fact she had red hair (that was his thing...at least his was natural, whereas this girl in front of him obviously had to have dyed it. It was that matted and dry looking. Not to mention it was too short on one side and long on the other. Yeah, Gaara so won with the hair on this...his hair was practically drenched in 'sexy'). He was also angry at the fact she was glaring at Naruto. Blatantly so, through her small glasses. So Gaara glared back.
He watched as she turned to tap the boy behind her, and glanced over. The boy, who was unbelievably tall, with light orange hair (or ginger as Gaara liked to call it) then also began to glare at Naruto. Gaara turned to face his 'boyfriend', to see if he'd noticed. No. He had not noticed. He was humming to himself. Had Gaara not been Gaara, he would have face palmed. Being Gaara, he merely ignored the fact his 'boyfriend' was an idiot and made work of glaring back at the ginger and the hair-dying-girl-with-hair-not-as-sexy-as-Gaara's.
This proved to be a greater effort then Gaara had originally thought especially since the two had decided to glare at the blonde almost the entire day. When the were walking back into lesson, their eyes followed him. Even during lunch, Gaara felt the pairs eyes narrow at the blonde, and short of walking over their and smashing their faces in, there was little he could do. Despite the fact that this was rather an appealing idea, he would get suspended and it would take considerable effort. Plus Temari would cry, and that was always enough to turn his stomach. So as he walked out of the school, Naruto in tow, the sight of them nowhere around was a beautiful sight indeed.
"Gaara!" he turned to face Naruto, who looked rather excited.
"What?" he replied, fully aware how monotone his voice sounded.
"I've made a spontaneous decision...again," the blonde said smiling. When it became clear there would be no elaborating, he replied.
"What?" he said...again.
"I'm going to the square to buy a T-Shirt," he said. Well that was unexpectedly normal.
"Okay," he said, not quite sure what to say.
"Do you want to come with me?" ah there it was, the real reason. He opened his mouth to reply, when a sudden thought hit him. He was supposed to be meeting up with Temari and Kankuro at the cafe wherever that was, at half four. He was guessing it was the one that Temari always told him about. It was in town. Should he go? His first rational answer was no. No he should not. But then he thought about why they may want to meet up with him. To discuss his schooling? To take him home? He was torn. He wanted to go home, but at the same time, he hadn't completed him mission. Either way it was probably safer to find out what the hell they wanted.
"Gaara?" his thoughts were broken by Naruto's voice. Ah. He still hadn't given him a clear answer.
"I've got to meet my siblings," he said abruptly. Naruto's face showed his confusion.
"Um, okay. You have siblings?" Naruto asked him. He hadn't mentioned them to him. Gaara nodded.
"Yes. Kankuro and Temari. They're not important," he said offhandedly. Naruto looked shocked.
"Yes they are, if they're your brother and sister," he said. Gaara glared slightly.
"They're useless," he said monotone.
"Even so, they're family," Naruto said, sounding slightly sad. Before Gaara could say anything though, he spoke again.
"So what time are you meeting them? Oh, and where?" it was a subject change had Gaara ever seen one.
"Half four, at this cafe in town," he said. Naruto perked up.
"So you can come to town with me?" he looked so hopeful. Gaara let him down gently.
"I'll get the bus with you, but it's at a different stop," he said. If he remembered correctly it was on the outskirts, about three stops before the one Naruto normally got off at. Naruto seemed to deflate, and Gaara was tempted to screw the meeting and say he'd go, but there was a smile on the blonde's face before he had the chance.
"It's okay. I'll see you when you get back right? And I'll be wearing my new T-Shirt," he said happily. Gaara could see it was fake, and was angered by this, but didn't saying anything, just begrudgingly walked to the stop with the shorter boy.
It was when the other started describing the new T-Shirt that he had to say something.
"Why are you lying?"
He watched as the blonde whipped round, mouth opening and closing, before opening, as if to reply. He was spared answering however by the arrival of the bus. Inwardly Gaara cursed as the boy stepped onto the bus. He'd nearly gotten an answer. He payed no attention to the other passengers arriving, instead content with glaring at the blonde.
"Well?" he saw the other fidget uncomfortably. The bus started to move.
"Well what?" an avoidance technique.
"Answer the question," he said, crossing his arms across his chest, leaning heavily into the seat, his eyes fixed on the blonde.
"What question?" he wasn't going to rise to the bait.
"Why are you lying?" he said calmly. Naruto avoided his eyes.
"I'm not," he said. Another lie. He decided to leave it, instead staring out the window at the passing cars.
"Gaara?" he heard Naruto say. Wow, must be a new record, the blonde just said something quietly.
"What," he replied. He could feel the blonde shifting.
"Nothing," he was fine with that. He'd talked more in the past three days then he had in a full year. And it was tiring him out. He saw his stop approaching and without turning to even look, pressed the button. The bus came to a standstill. He turned to face Naruto.
"Bye," he said. Despite the lack of any emotion in that one word, Naruto still beamed up at him, for real this time. It was unexpected, and gave him such an urge to lean in and capture that smile with his lips that he turned sharply and hurried of the bus, keeping his eyes straight ahead and not thanking the driver and he stepped off. Not that he did normally. But he definitely didn't in that instance. If he could have he'd have said 'thanks for nothing', but didn't, instead hoisting his bag on his shoulder and watching out of the corner of his eye as the bus drove past in a flurry of red and blonde.
Naruto bit his lip and Gaara turned sharply and practically ran out of the bus. At least he'd said bye, but Naruto still couldn't shake the feeling that the other boy was angry at him. How had he seen through his lie? Of course he wasn't happy, he wanted to go out with Gaara (hence the reason he had suggested it in the first place). But he thought he'd covered it pretty well until that burst of random that came flying from the red-head's mouth. He glanced round the bus as it continued on it's way, seeing no one other then some couple in front...woah did she have weird hair. He felt a bit weird just staring at her though, so instead cast his eyes out the window.
He pushed the button as his stop came into sight. He sighed. He'd have to talk to Gaara later with his new T-Shirt. Why had he even suggested it? Now he'd have to go and buy a T-Shirt that matched the description he'd made up. He stood up as the bus stopped, nodding to the driver and stuffing his hands into his pockets and ramming his hoodie over his head.
His head was so Gaara-filled he barely heard the footsteps behind him. He still heard them though as he headed his normal route. There were two of them. Two sets of them. Or maybe more. He decided to ignore them. Concentrate on his own feet. Left, right, left, right. He stared down at his converse, watching as they caused small clouds of dust on each step.
It was when he heard the footsteps speed up that he decided to turn round, only to find himself shoved roughly back, a whole lot of person doing the shoving. He stared up at the figure above him. It was that guy on the bus, the one sitting next to the girl with weird hair meaning...yes, she was standing behind him. Watching. He coughed, propping himself onto his elbows.
"What the fuck was that for?" he asked angrily, letting out a manly yelp as he was lifted to his feet and slammed into the unforgiving surface of the brick wall. Now this wasn't fair. What had he ever done to the wall?
He grabbed at the boys wrists, trying to pry them off him, but found their vice like grip hard to shake. He tried none the less, kicking out wards, and this seemed to work as one hand released him...only to swing back, full force and hit hit across the face. Naruto felt his head snap back, pain erupting around his eye and neck. He turned to face him again.
"What did I fucking do?" he asked again, spitting out blood. He looked to the girl this time. She glared back at him.
"You hit Sasuke," ...
What? He voiced his shock out loud, earning a rough slam against the wall.
"You hurt him," she repeated. The irony of that sentence was so...well, ironic that he couldn't help but laugh.
"I hurt him? You're joking right," he said. He winced as his back hit the wall.
"He pointed to you, he said that you hit him," the girl said, adamantly. Well this was news to him.
"One, it wasn't even me that hit him. Two, since when did he need girls to fight his battles for him?" he said laughing. He watched as the girl stalked over to him, stopping only as a voice echoed from the alley.
"I take it you didn't wait for me Karin," wait...this voice....
"Shut the fuck up, he was walking off," the girl turned to face the owner of the voice who walked over.
"Yeah yeah let's see who...Na-ru-to?" Naruto looked up, from where he was being held to face him. That boy, Suigestu something. The one who he always passed. (The one who seriously needed dentistry).
"Wait you know him?" the girl, (Karin apparently) said, turning sharply to face him. The boys face was one of shock, disbelief, and finally anger.
"Yes I fucking know him. Get off him," he said. He sounded angry for some reason Naruto could not comprehend. Then again, his head was hurting quite badly, so he wasn't able to comprehend much of anything.
"He hit Sasuke," the boy spoke for the first time. Naruto shook his head, looking almost pleadingly at the silver haired boy.
"Din't" he said. He noticed the boy was still carrying round a water bottle.
"He said he didn't, now let him go," Suigestu said. Naruto blinked. Everything was a bit fuzzy. All he knew was that the boy wasn't letting him go. He watched as the silver-haired boy drew a sword from his back, and the girl backed off.
"Hey, easy Suigetsu. Juugo...hey Juugo just let him go," the girl hissed, her glaring swapping between the rather large pointed sword and Naruto. Naruto felt the grip around his shoulder and neck loosen and he sank slightly , before steadying himself against the wall. He was amazed at how intimidating a boy could look whilst holding a sword and a water bottle, but believe me it was very. He watched as the girl grabbed this 'Juugo' and dragged him away, whilst being glared at by Suigetsu. And the he screamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?" he turned to glare at Suigetsu, who looked shocked he was still here.
"Calm down Na-ru-to," the other boy said, taking a sip of water. His sword was now safely attached to his back, Naruto noticed with relief.
"I am calm. Now what the fuck happened?" he asked again, this time at a lower volume. The other boy sat down, his back against the wall. Naruto followed suit, ignoring his thoughts screaming 'personal hygiene!'.
"Well I ain't sure myself. All I know is what they told me," he said.
"Which is?" Naruto asked. He was getting tired of this. His head hurt and he wanted to be in bed, listening to Papa Roach and plotting his death. Not talking to some freak with a long sword.
"Sasuke got hit. And when Karin asked him who, he pointed a ya. So she wanted to get revenge or somethin'. I just wanted some action," he said, taking another swig.
"I didn't hit him," he said. The other boy shrugged.
"Figured as much," he said.
"Wish I had," he said darkly. Suigetsu looked over at where he was sitting.
"Oh? An' why's that?" he asked, resting his elbows on his knees. Naruto thought how best to answer. He just went with the most obvious truth.
"He's a dick,"
The other boy grinned at him.
"That he is. I mean I'd beat on someone who wanted to kill 'im, but I can't deny he deserves a hit," he said laughing. Naruto smiled too, a bit warily (the other had a rather large sword, no pun intended). The other seemed to read his thoughts, as the next thing Naruto knew, he was face to face with the thing.
"Do ya like it?" the boy asked, a lopsided grin showing almost all his jagged teeth. Naruto was never one to offend outright, so nodded with a smile.
"er...yeah. It's really nice. Where did you get it?" he asked. It was only polite. The guy had just saved him from getting his face completely smashed in.
"That antique shop on the outskirts. Owned by that Zabuza guy...he's havin' to sell his collection 'cause they're goin' bankrupt, an' I had to buy it. I'm tryin' to collect all..." Naruto tuned him out, nodding politely. Outwardly he was intently listening to the guy's description of his swords. Inwardly he was crying at the mess his life was in. And trying to figure out how he'd get home. He really hoped Gaara was having a better time then he was...
tbc.
Okay, I really had to end it there, because this is getting to be a ridiculously lengthy thingemehbob. One doc says it's 8866 words and the other 9446 0.o
Was it okay? I haven't written anything in ages, so I'm bit rusty, and on reading this through I was like 'my god, what have these fingers spawned!!'....but I reeeally am not prepared to retype it again...too much...
Review? Suggestions? Please? I really need some responses right now, to know whether I need to change my writing style/direction or what...I'm just so confused. Basically, did you like it? Or not?
next chapter: how will Naruto get home, what do Gaara's siblings want, and Gaara will begin phase one of his mission...plus Naruto considers professional help. woot :3
