AN: To everyone asking, yes, I have read chapter 367, however, I don't like putting massive spoilers in my fics (except if it's by accident, which I've done before, and I'm sorry) so for that reason, I am not going to be doing any changes with this fic or any of my others until that chapter has come out in anime form (Holy crap, that'll be a while...) But yes, I know :) As for where certain people are (ie, Chouji, Lee, etc) I can't really fit everyone into this fic so, yes, I did have to cut some people out who aren't going to be playing a major role, so, sorry -sweatdrop- At least I kept Gaara! ...Not that he'd ever be someone I would cut, haha.
Also, thanks to everyone who caught my "Makoto" mistake -sweatdrop- I hadn't written about her for so long I couldn't remember what her name was -sweatdrop-
AE post: http (colon) (slash slash) ffw-sarge (dot) livejournal (dot) com. (look for the AE '07 post)
And apparently, I lost a fan because they were offended with the characters I killed off in one of my fics... I have to admit, that was one of the oddest reviews ever, but I'm sorry that you were so upset about it... (Why am I writing this here, the person doesn't read my stuff anymore... lol)
EDIT:
WARNING: I'm getting annoyed with getting chewed out for HAVING this comment here and for NOT having it here. Sakura says "fag" in this chapter, I find it unacceptable, you can, too, or you can just shrug and not care, that's your own opinion. I, personally, do not like hearing this word because I have a lot of gay friends who find it offensive. If it doesn't offend you, then good. If it does, I apologize for having used it and know Sakura's views do not express my own.
Naruto jerked up in bed, almost in a panic, his hand reaching for a kunai that he couldn't find. It took him a few seconds to remember his dreamworld wasn't real, and a few more to identify the sound. His alarm clock.
He groaned, rolling onto his back and glancing at it, noting it was six-thirty. Why was his alarm set again? Oh yeah, he thought with a huge yawn, one hand reaching out to turn off the beeping. I have school.
A cold wave of fear splashed over him, threatening to drown him. He didn't want to go, he was scared. Everyone would stare at him, and what if he forgot some people? How would he justify who he remembered and who he didn't? He contemplated faking illness to get out of it, throwing his covers over his head.
He wasn't concerned about the actual course material or not being in the same grade as his friends, because he'd taken a test over the weekend and the principal—who Naruto had found out was the third Hokage, aka Sarutobi Hiroki—had said he could go right back in as if he hadn't left.
It was weird for Naruto to remember everything and to understand it, but he wasn't complaining. He thought it was pretty impressive that almost a month after having woken up, he'd learned eleven years' worth of schooling. He ignored why, he was just glad he had.
"Honey?" There was a knock at the door. Naruto debated playing dead, but considering his coma, that would just be mean.
"Um, yes?"
"Are you up?" she asked.
"Um... define up?" he replied nervously.
There was a pause, then he heard his door open and was forced to pull his blankets away from his head. His mother walked up to his bed, holding a travel mug filled with coffee in one hand, and dressed elegantly in a beige suit with her hair in a bun.
"Sweetie, you don't have to go back to school yet if you're not ready." she said soothingly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Don't force yourself."
"It's not that I don't think I'm ready, I'm just—scared." he admitted, ignoring the beating his pride was taking.
"Naruto, that's normal. It's been a long time, but you're a good person, and you're such a quick learner." She ran her hand through his hair. "You'll be fine. And Sasuke, Kiba, and all your other friends will be right there with you to help you out. Just be yourself and everything will be fine."
Naruto sat up, wringing his hands together as he swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a try."
"If you can't take it, have Sasuke drive you home at lunch and then call me at work. I'll inform the school that it's too early, all right?" She ran her hand along his cheek and smiled.
"Okay." He nodded. "I can do this. It's just school, how hard can it be, right?" He forced a smile and reached out for his crutches.
"That's my boy." She kissed his forehead as she stood and checked her watch. "I have to go, or I'll be late. Your father's already gone, so don't forget to lock the door behind you. I'll be back around five-thirty. If you don't feel like going to school, call my cell phone so I can inform them, okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay." she repeated with a smile, kissing his forehead a second time. "Have a good day."
"You, too." She smiled and went to leave when Naruto stopped her. "Mum?" She turned. "You look really good."
"Thanks, honey." She smiled, and waved, then left.
Naruto heard the front door slam while he hobbled down the corridor, and it suddenly occurred to him why he had no parents in his dreamworld. His dad left before he woke up, and his mum stayed behind just long enough to ensure he got up before also leaving. His mother got home at five-thirty, and his father around dinnertime, at seven. It was like having no parents, really.
Naruto hobbled into his bathroom and started getting ready for school, his mind wandering as he did so. He kept trying to relate things from his real life to his fake world. Some things made sense, some didn't, but he figured they would explain themselves in time. He sometimes wondered if he wanted them explained, or if he'd rather just ignore the fact that he had his own dreamworld and just go on with his life.
As he shut off the shower water and dried himself—with difficulty; crutches sucked—he wondered if he should tell his friends that he was gay. Maybe he should have told his parents first? He didn't know, but he definitely wanted to tell Sasuke.
No... maybe not Sasuke...
He felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach and put both hands over it to calm them while he sat on the toilet lid. Once it had calmed, he grabbed his crutches and walked to his room, a towel around his waist. Should he tell Sasuke? What if he was disgusted? What if he rejected him?
What if he punches a hole through my chest with his fist? Naruto sighed as he pulled on a pair of boxers while seated on the bed. He'd gotten burned by Sasuke once before, he didn't think he could handle it a second time. He sighed, lying down on his bed.
"I'm not going." he decided as he threw his blankets over himself and closed his eyes. He was scared even more than before, now, and wished his thoughts hadn't strayed to that topic.
He stayed in bed, beginning to drift off to sleep when the doorbell rang. He groaned, annoyed that he'd almost gotten back to sleep. It rang again before the front door was opened, meaning whoever it was had a key, or knew where the spare was hidden.
"Naruto?" The blond's eyes snapped open and he threw the covers off himself as he heard footsteps heading for the stairs. "Are you up? Do you need help?"
"No!" Naruto was struggling to grab his crutches and ended up falling off the bed.
"Are you okay?!" Sasuke asked worriedly as his footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs quickly.
Naruto panicked, crawling as fast as his damaged legs could carry him, and slammed the door just as Sasuke reached the second floor. The blond reached up and locked it before panting and leaning his back against the door.
Sasuke knocked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good." Naruto lied, hating himself. He was embarrassed that he was only in boxers, even though Sasuke had probably seen him like that before, considering they used to crash at each other's houses all the time. And the crawling—God, he could sink no lower.
"Do you need help?"
"No!" He winced, trying to calm his voice. "No, I can do it. Sorry, I'll be out in a minute."
Telling Sasuke he wasn't going to school hadn't even crossed his mind. He didn't want to look weak, so even though he felt like he was going to throw up, he was going to school.
He had to. If not for himself, then—for Gaara.
Naruto was surprised to find that most of the senseis in his world were actually teachers, and were all pretty similar to how they'd been. The blond belonged to Class B of the graduating class of 2004, the home-room teacher for the four years of high school having been the same man: Hatake Kakashi.
He had nodded indifferently to Naruto, but it was obvious in his eyes that he was happy the blond was back. He didn't wear a mask, but he had scars around his mouth. Sasuke had told him Kakashi had been in a car accident the year he'd gone into his coma, and had been wearing bandages on almost his entire face. Naruto figured that explained his dream image of Kakashi.
The teenager had later run into Umino Iruka, the man bursting into tears and hugging him tightly. He spent his short break with the man, and found out that Iruka used to babysit him when he was little, and was now a guidance counsellor at his school. Apparently, Iruka had been like an older brother to him, which made sense to Naruto considering his relationship with Iruka in his dreamworld.
He believed that the most frightening experience of his entire day was running into Shiranui Genma before lunch. The man had launched himself at Naruto, trying to hug him and grope him, but Namiashi Raidou had stopped him and told the boys to run, quickly. Naruto did as he was told, as best as his crutches would allow him, hearing the two teachers talking behind him as Genma tried to get free.
"Oh, he's so cute, I could just rape him!" the long-haired teacher exclaimed loudly, which caused numerous people to turn to see who he was talking about.
"Yeah—not a good idea." Raidou sighed as the boys made their escape.
"Okay, that was terrifying." Naruto admitted to the other two boys as they made their way towards the cafeteria.
"Eh, Genma's always been like that." Kiba shrugged. "Say, what was Genma like in your dreamworld?"
The blond snorted. "Normal."
"Normal?!" Sasuke and Kiba's jaws dropped.
"Genma was normal?! No way, dude! How did you not know it was a dream?"
"No kidding." Sasuke muttered as they entered the cafeteria and he grabbed two trays—one for him, and one for Naruto. He was going to have fun trying to juggle the two of them.
"You been doing okay today, Naruto? You haven't really said anything about the courseload yet."
"It's been fine. Surprisingly." The blond frowned. "I didn't expect it to be this simple."
"Simple?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at him. "You think this is simple?"
"Well, he was smart before. It must just be a gene thing."
Naruto stared at Kiba, remembering what Neji had said before. He'd been—serious? Naruto was smart?!
"Smart?" he whispered in disbelief. "I was smart?"
"You were on the honour roll." Sasuke informed, which earned him a confused look.
"Which is a yes." Kiba clarified with a snicker, Sasuke turning to glare at him.
The blond stared at them both for a few seconds. "I was smart?"
Both boys blinked at their friend before Kiba leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Do you think he's having problems hearing?"
"My hands are full, hit him, please." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he passed Naruto to head for the checkout.
"Don't hit me!" Kiba exclaimed in a panic, which just made the blond laugh and follow after Sasuke.
The raven put both trays down before going to grab Naruto's wallet. The blond stumbled back, almost losing his grip on his crutches. He grabbed his wallet himself, handing it to Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't really seem to notice his small freak out.
"We usually sit outside, but if that's too hard for you, we can eat in the refectory." Sasuke told Naruto.
"Fucker, the refac is so loud, dude. Can't we—ow!" Kiba crossed his legs and bent down slightly, having been kicked in the shin. "Fuck, dude! That hurt!"
Naruto smiled slightly at Sasuke's protectiveness, and assured them that eating outside would be fine. As they headed for the doors that led outside, he noticed Gaara walking towards the lunch line. He was wearing all-black and had black makeup around his eyes. Naruto hoped Gaara would sit outside, too.
They headed towards the school doors, Kiba kicking one open and then holding it for Sasuke and Naruto before following them. Sasuke headed towards a large tree where a few of their friends were already seated.
"Well, look who it is." Ino grinned as she patted the spot next to her. "I hate being in class A, I miss you too much." Naruto laughed and got himself on the ground—with difficulty—before Sasuke handed him his tray.
"So, how's your day been so far? Everything okay?" Ino inquired before taking a bite of her salad. Naruto shrugged as he poked at the lasagna on his plate. He had an insane feeling that it was going to jump out and try to eat him.
"Good. Haven't forgotten anyone so far, but I still haven't seen a few people. Like Orochimaru."
"Trust me, you don't want to." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ever since we set his foetal pig on fire in ninth grade, he's been out to get us."
Naruto blinked at Sasuke as the raven ate, the Uchiha clearly not sharing the blond's concern that the lasagna was going to bite a chunk out of him. "We set a pig on fire?"
"A foetal pig. A dead one. He had it in a jar on his shelf. Guy watches too much CSI; wanted to have his own foetal pig, like that Grissom character. We only ever had him as a teacher for one year, so we don't really see him around much anymore." Sasuke replied before eying Naruto's lasagna. "Are you not hungry?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked at his plate and laughed nervously. "It doesn't look friendly." he admitted.
"You should hurry up and eat it." Kiba grinned. "Bite it before it bites you!"
"Chomp!" Naruto jumped a mile high as someone shouted this right behind him, Neji laughing as he plopped down in the circle with Hinata.
"You guys suck!" Naruto screamed, going beet red.
"Yeah, be nice to the cripple." Ino grinned.
"Fuck you! You all suck!" The blond pouted and took a bite of his lasagna, miffed. He looked up at them and paused, noticing that Gaara had just taken a seat in the grass under a tree.
"You doing all right this first day back?" Neji asked as he opened a bottle of orange juice and took a large sip.
"I'm fine, people need to stop asking me that." the blond muttered, returning to poking his food.
"We just want to make sure you're all right." Hinata insisted with a smile.
"You know what you need, Naruto?" Kiba asked, wrapping his arm around the blond's shoulders. "You need to get laid."
"That's you, dumbass."
"Actually, you're the one who needs to get laid the most out of all of us." Kiba said dryly to Sasuke.
"That's what my brother says." the raven admitted with a frown.
"Either way, Kiba's sort of right." Neji agreed. "You need a girlfriend to help keep you relaxed."
"I'm single!" Ino's hand shot up. Naruto laughed at her enthusiasm.
"Thanks, Ino, but I'm... let's just say I won't be getting a girlfriend any time soon."
"Why?" Hinata asked. He just shrugged.
"If that bitch Sakura turned you off women, I'll kill her." Ino joked.
"It—wasn't Sakura."
Everything went dead silent. Kiba had his fork near his open mouth, but the lasagna had fallen off it and landed on his jeans. He didn't seem to notice. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, feeling that maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all.
"You're—gay?" Ino asked slowly.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but another voice interrupted him.
"Well, that explains things." He hadn't noticed Sakura standing across from him, right behind Neji. Everyone else had been looking at him, so no one had noticed.
"Go back to your brothel, whore." Ino snapped, practically baring her teeth in anger.
"Mind your own business, bitch." Sakura smirked at her own cleverness. "I came to rekindle my flame with Naruto, but if he's a fag—"
She didn't get to continue because Ino had stood up and punched her at that word. Kiba and Neji had to grab her to stop her from causing more harm to Sakura, which would probably land the rosette in the hospital, and the blonde an expulsion.
"How troublesome." Naruto turned at those words, seeing a sighing Shikamaru holding a tray. He'd been serving a detention for not having handed in his homework. "Ino, calm down, you don't want another suspension."
"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend, pig." Sakura hissed, wiping blood from her mouth.
"Not her boyfriend." Shikamaru sighed, annoyed. He and Ino had been best friends since kindergarten, so everyone immediately assumed they were an item.
"Hey Shikamaru, did you know?" Sakura sneered, looking at Naruto. "Our blond friend is a fag."
Ino redoubled her efforts to hit Sakura as Shikamaru blinked.
"Ino, you'll get expelled." he said again.
"I don't care!"
"No, no." Shikamaru put his tray down. "I just mean you'll get expelled."
"Huh?" Ino didn't even have the time to glance at Shikamaru before he flew past her and decked Sakura right in the face.
"Holy shit!" Naruto stared, wide-eyed. "I thought you didn't hit girls!"
"No, your dream me doesn't hit girls." Shikamaru cracked his knuckles as Sakura scrambled to her feet and ran, holding her nose. "And even if I didn't hit girls, Sakura doesn't count."
"Sorry to say, but the whole school will know by the end of the day." Hinata whispered.
"I don't mind." Naruto shrugged, taking a bite of his lasagna, as if forgetting his previous thoughts about the food biting him. "As long as my friends don't change because of my preferences, the school can say what they want."
"Tch." Kiba let Ino go and sat back down. "As long as you don't try to jump me, we're good."
"Ditto." Shikamaru agreed, flicking a spider off his shoulder before taking his seat.
"You can jump me." Ino teased as she went back to eating her salad.
"You're missing equipment." Kiba grinned.
"Careful, or I'll steal yours." The brunette winced, his hands going to protect his package.
"Please don't." he whimpered.
Naruto just laughed, shaking his head. It suddenly occurred to him that Sasuke hadn't said anything, and he almost looked up to see his face, but decided against it. He was too scared to. So, instead, he just stared down at his food and continued to eat.
There was silence for a few seconds before Kiba cleared his throat.
"Wow, is it just me, or is there, like, massive tension?"
Ino hit the brunette across the back of the head, Kiba letting out a shout. "Idiot! Only you would be stupid enough to blurt out something so bluntly!" (1)
"What's wrong with being blunt?" he whined, nursing the bump on his head.
"Don't worry about it, Kiba." Naruto smiled, still not looking up. "I like your bluntness."
"Thanks... I think." Kiba frowned. "You're not hitting on me, are you?"
Ino wanted to hit him again, but to be honest, she lacked the energy. Hitting Kiba every time he said or did something stupid would just be a pain in the ass. She chose to ignore him and continued eating her salad.
"Why won't you look at me?" Everyone looked up at Sasuke at this question. Everyone except Naruto. He didn't want to look up.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since you admitted to being gay, you haven't looked at me." Sasuke accused, his tray in front of him and his hands folded together, his elbows resting on his thighs.
"I get it!" Kiba exclaimed. Naruto looked up at him, alarmed, hoping he wasn't going to say it out loud! Then again, this was Kiba. "You're worried about what Sasuke thinks of you now!"
And luckily for me, Kiba's an idiot. Naruto sighed. He'd been so scared Kiba was going to blurt out that Naruto liked Sasuke, and that was why he wasn't looking up. It didn't seem like anyone had considered that. Then again, it was a little true, what Kiba had said. Naruto didn't want Sasuke to be disgusted with him or anything like that.
"Naruto?" The blond looked up, somewhat nervously. Blue locked with onyx. "Is that why you're scared to look at me?"
"Yeah." he whispered, looking back down.
"You're an idiot."
"Eh?!" Naruto's head jerked up, his eyes meeting Sasuke's once more. The raven was smirking.
"You're my best friend. I don't care if you want to screw guys." He shrugged. "To each his own. If I was into bestiality, I'm sure you'd be there for me no matter what."
"... Are you into bestiality?" Kiba asked, shifting away slightly. "Do I need to protect Akamaru?"
Sasuke shifted his eyes slowly to look at Kiba. "You're an idiot."
Naruto laughed at the look on Kiba's face, shaking his head. He listened happily as Sasuke and Kiba started to fight, the brunette using huge arm movements and a lot of pointing, while the raven just smirked and spoke calmly.
This is fun, Naruto realized as he took a sip of his drink. His eyes wandered around the area until they stopped on Gaara, and he froze. The redhead was facing the tree he'd sat under, eating his food slowly with his head bowed. Naruto put his drink down, staring at the other's back, and then struggled to get to his feet. Ino started to stand so she could help him, but Neji grabbed her arm, knowing Naruto wanted to do it on his own.
Once he was standing and holding his crutches comfortably, he slowly made his way towards Gaara.
"What's he doing?" Ino inquired as the group watched him go. Kiba was still yelling at Sasuke, but the raven was also staring at Naruto.
"He's Naruto. What do you think he's doing?" Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome."
Gaara could hear the group of friends behind him bickering about something or another. He listened in, trying to establish why Kiba was yelling so much, but it was hard to make out, even though he was yelling. Kiba tended not to enunciate properly a lot of the time, which made it hard to understand him.
He doesn't have anything intelligent to say, anyway, Gaara thought as he finished his juice and put it down on his tray. A shadow appeared over him and he spun around defensively, glaring. He was a little stunned to see Naruto, but his face remained expressionless.
"Hey, Gaara. Mind if I join you?"
"Why?" the redhead asked.
Naruto shrugged. "Why not?"
Gaara looked past Naruto at his group of friends, all of whom were staring at them. Kiba had finally clued in, and had turned around to see what was going on. The redhead let out a grunt, turning his back on the blond.
"Nice try."
"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Sorry, but I'm not gonna bite. Go tell your friends you lost your little bet."
The blond's eyebrow slowly rose before he wobbled in front of Gaara and leaned back against the tree, using it to help him sit down before placing his crutches beside him. The redhead glared, gathering his things so he could leave.
"Are you always this paranoid?"
"I have nothing to say to you." Gaara stated before standing, shouldering his bag and turning, his tray in his hands.
"You were defensive in my dreamworld, too."
This made Gaara pause after his first step. He turned back to Naruto slowly, the shock clear on his face.
"You—dreamt about me?"
"Well, in a way, I suppose." Naruto's face split into a huge smile. "You and I were really good friends. I helped you surpass me—unintentionally, of course." He chuckled.
Gaara stared at Naruto for a few seconds, then looked back at the blond's friends. They weren't even paying attention to them anymore, they'd gone back to fighting with one another. If this had been a bet or a joke, they'd still be watching, and would be laughing. The redhead turned back to Naruto.
"Why are you here?" he asked, though he didn't move from where he stood. The blond shrugged.
"I just figured you could use a friend." He smiled. "You could, right? Use a friend?"
Gaara just stared at Naruto, noting how sincere he looked. He glanced back at the blond's friends, then turned to him again.
"You—want to be my friend?"
"I was your friend in my dreamworld. How hard can it be to be your friend out here?" He patted the spot beside him. "Come on, sit down."
Gaara hesitated, then finally put his tray back down and removed his bag, sitting down awkwardly beside Naruto. The two looked up at the sky in silence, the redhead uncomfortable and Naruto just relaxed.
"So, tell me, Gaara," Naruto turned to him with a smile. "Do you like the beach?"
(1) That is SUCH a me thing to do... and I've done it before -sweatdrop-
A.N: Ugh, went over this chapter twice, but I'm so tired there's probably some mistakes or something and there's a part in this that I feel I've used already in a previous chapter... if anyone catches anything, let me know please? -loves-