Chapter 10: This Is a Call
Thousand Foot Krutch, specifically their song 'This Is a Call', played over Naruto's speakers as he got dressed after a shower on Saturday morning. He had played the song on purpose, not at all realizing while he mouthed the words how true the lyrics were in this situation; especially the second verse. Which boy it applied to, Shippuuden or Resshin, no one could guess. Perhaps a smidge of both.
Naruto's face made soft expressions while his lips formed the shape of the words:
"He
tells everyone a story,
Because he thinks his life is boring,
And
he fights
So you won't ignore him,
Because that's his biggest
fear;
And he cries,
But you'll rarely see him do it.
He
loves, but he's scared to use it,
So he hides behind the music,
'Cause
he likes it that way.
And he knows
He's so much more than
worthless;
He needs to find the surface,
Because he's starting
to get nervous…"
Looking through his closet passed the school uniform shirts, pants, and ties, Naruto finds all his jackets and casual wear. Did it really matter what you wore during a phone call? Did it give you extra luck if you looked decent?
The second chorus of the song came, and Naruto continues to lip sync the lyrics:
"He's
calling out to you, this is a call; this is a call out,
'Cause
every time I fall down, I reach out to you.
And I'm losing all
control now, and my hazard signs are all out;
I'm asking you to
show me what this life is all about…"
He chose a dark, rich blue shirt with silver, white, and red accents and patterns spread across it, along with a pair of baggy black jeans. After trying this on, however, he decided against the black jeans and chose a much lighter pair that looked very faded down his knees, shins, and butt. It had a few extra pockets, two on one thigh and one on the other, just above his knees. He slipped his cell phone in the lone pocket to his right thigh, a pack of gum in his upper right by the zipper, and his Swiss army knife in one of the two lower right pockets. The knife was one of those kinds that had a relatively dull blade, a corkscrew, a pair of scissors, a pair of pliers, and a heavy-duty file hidden within it's metal oval shape. It had been his birth father's, was still bore a few battle scars across it's outer surface. Naruto carried it with him almost all the time, even at school; it was a luck charm of sorts, as well as a safety blanket. It was the only thing he had left of his parents besides a blue crystal pendant from his mother (which he wore under his shirt at all times).
Naruto turns off his music and picks up the discarded piles of clothing and damp towel that littered his carpet, dumping each into the respectable hamper in the bathroom and hallway closet. Then he turns to go downstairs and to the front door…
He knew he was about to leave the house, but on the top of the stair he pauses, unsure where he was going to go as soon as he left the house. Obviously he was going to walk to his destined place; no way in hell was he going to chance hopping in the Nissan again.
The blonde clicks his tongue, mulling over what his options within Konoha's city limits were. The lake, the arcade, the skate park, the roller skating rink, the movie theatre, the playground, the basketball hoops at the high school, a restaurant of nearly any kind of food you'd like… there was a bar and a club, too, but you have to be older than 17 for those, which Naruto was not.
He sighs and leans his arm against the banister of the stairs, his foot tapping. Where to go? There was plenty to do, but what was he in the mood for? Truthfully, I want to talk to Resshin; now rather than later. This, of 'course, was not an option, so he had to come up with something else. Like a multiple choice test, Naruto went with the eliminating strategy to figure out where to go.
No really good movies came out lately, I don't feel like swinging, it's too cold to swim despite the sun, I was just at school yesterday so I'd rather not go back for basketball, I can't skateboard very well or use my bike on those ramps without hurting myself, I'm not hungry… all that's really left is the arcade or roller rink, it seems.
Hence, about 20-or-so minutes later, the arcade is what Naruto found himself walking into. He decided against the roller rink, not wanting the embarrassment of stumbling around the circumference of the wooden floor; he hasn't skated in years.
The familiar pinging sound of old-fashioned games, the Japanese murmurs of DDR, and the zaps of laser tag filled the blonde's ears. He smelled stale pizza and Gatorade laced with the tart smells of sour-sweet candy. Ah, the atmosphere of gaming nostalgia… what a welcome feeling it had to it.
o0o0o0o0o
Gaara, on the other hand, had bigger fish to fry than beating someone's high score. Currently he was being dragged to the mall 45 minutes away from Konohagakure , nearly halfway to the location of the Sound Academy. The mall, I assure you, is the last place Gaara would like to be. Yet this is precisely where Temari wanted to go to spend time with her younger brother, so this is where the reluctant redhead had to go.
"You'll have fun, I promise. There are a lot of activities to do worthy of your time at the mall, Gaara. And I'll take you to any store you like! Speaking of which, I need to stop at a few I like… mostly Rock America; I want some band tees. What about you? – Hey, want to cruise on over to Too Cool for some anime junk? Or maybe Barnes and Nobel for some books?" She pauses, waiting for a response as she watches the traffic. "Come on, Gaara, talk to me here…" his sister tries. For a split second she glanced sideways at the redhead, trying to get a glimpse of any sort of expression on his face. She frowned to herself when she found him sleeping. "You were up late again, weren't you?" Temari whispers to herself as she watches the road. She steals another quick look at his sleeping face before smiling and returning her gaze to the road ahead of her. "I'll take a few detours, then…"
She genuinely is a first-rate older sister. Sure, Temari has her faults (like her slight cockiness or her temper), but generally she is a decent gal. She knew how to take care of the people she cared about. In this case, it was to let her insomniac younger brother rest a tad longer.
Gingerly, the words came to her lips, words she had never gotten the chance to say… "I love you, little bro."
Out of the corner of her eyes she catches him twitch, his brows coming together briefly, along with the fingers on the hand that lap across his lap. But then all his features relaxed, as if he accepted the words. Temari knew, though, that if Gaara had been awake to hear them, he might have done something unpredictable. Maybe he would have stared at her coldly before she could even utter the words, or maybe he would have tensed up and braced himself, or maybe he would have come close to tears. Whatever his reaction could have been, Temari understood every reason why he would make it. No one has ever quite said something so kindhearted or sincere to the redhead in the past. One person had said that they loved him, a couple people have… but neither had meant it, and when they had spoken the words it had hurt Gaara. His sister knows that. She was different than Yashamaru and their father, very different; for when she said 'I love you', she meant it. She did love Gaara. Kankurou, too. As rough as she could be to them sometimes or when they were younger, and as many fights they have been in, all of it counted for naught when it came to how she felt deep down: out of everyone in the entire world, the only people Temari loved were her siblings.
While she drove in the car to the mall, thoughts like this crossed her brain like butterflies in a wildflower field. The ideas came and went as light as air, hardly bothering to be thought of for very long. Why? Because they were fact. Why think about things when you already knew them to be true?
The mall came into view, and Temari pulled over from the intersection in front of it to stop the car in the parking lot. As she pulled into an empty space, Gaara stirred. His eye fluttered open and a muffled yawn escaped his unperturbed lips. "Have we arrived?" he asks dimly.
Temari was startled by the abrupt sound of his voice. "Oh, you're awake! And yeah, we're here…"
The teen blinked his black eyelids a couple times. He stifled another yawn as he unbuckled himself and pushed the passenger door open. "Then in we go."
"Right," the college student says with a puckered brow. She sends Gaara a look that read: 'I just let you take a nice nap and you repay me by acting like you solely want this trip to be over with?'
However, the look goes unnoticed as the redhead walks up to the closest store they were parked at, which happened to be JC Penny. A woman's store, Gaara thinks while rolling his cool aquamarine eyes. Sure, there were plenty of manly things in JC Penny, but none of those things really mattered to Gaara; he'd much rather visit Barnes and Nobel, Hot Topic, or Too Cool. Or even Starbucks. Which, as a matter of fact, he could really go for right about now; perhaps a caramel frappichino or latte... In the meantime, he'd have to settle for the 'cinnamint' Orbit gum he had in his pocket. Cinnamon gum was one of Gaara's favorite things to taste, which was ironic considering what color his hair is. Just by looking at him you might think that he likes cinnamon flavored things, and it would be correct. How fitting.
"Let's skip Penny's, 'kay? I want to head straight for Rock America, and then we can go wherever you like." Temari informs him, and he vaguely nods in response.
Subsequent to this little interaction, and while Temari was browsing the many band tees at Rock America, Gaara found himself contemplating what he was supposed to say to Shippuuden when he called him later today. He kept dodging his second thoughts, trying not to bail out and in turn let the other boy down; he's had enough of that from other people in his life, and he didn't want to be the one doing that to someone else. Gaara was many things, but he was not heartless (despite what everyone thought of him). He was also not a liar or one to back out on his word; he had agreed to a phone call, so that is exactly what he was going to do. He simply had no clue as to what to say.
For starters, he should probably say 'Hello'. That was obvious. Next, he should probably make sure he had the right number by asking, 'Is this Shippuuden?' And finally, when they other replied, he should say something witty that would open up a topic of discussion. If Gaara was lucky, his e-pal would be just as talkative and ramble-prone as he was on the internet so that he wouldn't have to say much. In truth, the redhead wanted to listen and not speak too much; he was vigilant of Hurricane figuring out who he was as well as not capable with keeping up a conversation that involved saying much on his behalf. He preferred 'one-way conversations' that made it so he could listen and only utter a few words now and again to keep the other talking. Gaara hoped that, when the time came to call the mysterious other boy, this would be the circumstance.
Presently, though, he was intent on getting what he wanted done at the mall so that he could leave. It wasn't that Gaara disliked shopping; on the contrary, getting new items of any kind was enjoyable for him in a matter of speaking. Except… Gaara was not fond of crowds and high levels of noise. Noise being here the sound of people walking, chattering, laughing, shouting, and all around being busy. Since noise like that required crowds, and worthwhile places to be also required crowds, this led all those people to the mall; which, currently, Gaara stood inside a store of, wishing he had earplugs.
Some AC/DC song began playing over the store's speakers, the sound of Temari's singing reaching Gaara's already noise-overdosed eardrums. She was singing every word of the song, obviously enjoying herself while she shopped. The redhead sighs, wishing he could say the same.
"Gaara, do you like this Ted Nugent shirt, or…" she held up either one to her chest. "This one?"
"The first," Gaara replies dryly, personally preferring the design and colors of the first. It had orange on it.
"Really? I think so, too. Now, we should get Kankurou something from here or he'll be sore with us," the blonde winks. "What band do you think he'll want a shirt of?"
"Metallica," Gaara suggests. "Or an Ozzy shirt. Korn would be a wise choice; he's been listening to a lot of their music as of late. He even got me liking a few of their songs."
Temari grins. "Okay. Thanks, Gaara."
"Whatever," he murmurs, nodding vaguely. He turns to look for a Johnny Cash t-shirt. The redhead wasn't sure if he was going to buy one; he was merely curious to see the kinds of shirts they had for the deceased solo artist.
After a few things bad been bought at Rock America, Gaara asked (more like 'demanded') that they stop at the Starbucks in Barnes and Nobel, as well as browse some of the new releases there. "Sure thing," Temari nods. "I could use some coffee and a new book to read myself."
When Gaara had purchased about half a dozen books and two medium-sized orders of coffee, he seemed much brighter about the whole mall experience and allowed Temari to choose where they went next.
"Actually, I was thinking you could let me stop at Bath and Body Works… I need some girl stuff like shampoo and body wash and lotion."
"Fine," Gaara agreed, taking one last swing of his caffeinated beverage. He tossed the foam cup in a nearby trash can, a resounding fwump echoing off the inside.
"I'll only be a few minutes, I swear," Temari adds, feeling as if she needed to reassure her younger brother. In truth, he couldn't care less; it doesn't matter where they went for how long. "And then we can mosey on over to Hot Topic!"
Somehow, he was enjoying time with his sister, even if he didn't show it in plain sight.
o0o0o0o0o
Naruto paced his room while nervously nibbling at his cuticles. He didn't know why he felt this anxious. His heart his pounding up in his ears, the rush of blood sounding in his head. Why am I getting so hung up over a phone call? It's not even 7:00 yet, the blonde thought indolently. Most of his thoughts, however, were concentrated on what on Earth he was going to say to the other teen.
"Hey Resshin!" he tried, looking into the full-length mirror that hung over his closet door. He frowned at his reflection. "That sounds kind of girly." Naruto sighs, starting over. "Resshin, right? Hey." He shook his head at himself, his gold locks falling in his eyes. He blew upwards to get them out of the way. "Way too aloof; saying 'hi' like that makes me sound like some druggie who doesn't give shit, which is totally the opposite of how I feel. Dammit!" Naruto grunts while scrubbing at his scalp.
The digital clock on his computer screen read 6:59. Had he really wasted 17 minutes pacing and talking to himself? How pathetic.
"I wonder if he'll even call on time…" Naruto mutters. "I mean, no one wants to seem over-eager, so it probably won't be 7:00 on the button, but…" he drifts off, losing his train of thought.
The blonde glances back over at the clock. It's only 7:01 p.m., it displayed irritably, So stop looking at me and be patient.
"It's not easy being patient!" He snaps at the clock, as if it had really spoken. "…Shoot, I'm losing my mind…"
A handful of minutes ticked by, each one being spent by counting the number of freckles Naruto found on his own skin. Yes, he has resorted to preoccupying himself in the lamest ways so not to fret so much over waiting for that phone call. He got up to 28 prior to hearing the sound of his cell's ringtone.
'You can make me scream internally; you can make me breathe eternally; yeah… You see the things I cannot change, the things that make me plain. Lift me up my soul's so hollow… Lift me up…'
At first, Naruto didn't even recognize the sound of 'Hollow' by Submersed. But when he had he was diving for his cell phone and flipping it open eagerly, not even bothering to see what the number was that had been calling. His breath caught in his throat like a fish on a hook as he spoke: "H-Hello?"
A voice, at precisely 7:09 p.m., answered with delicate calmness that Naruto automatically knew could only be Resshin. "Hello; this is Shippuuden's number, correct?"
"Y-yeah! That's me," Naruto smiles, forcing himself to take a seat on the side of his bed. "Resshin, right?"
"None other."
"Heh heh," Naruto chuckles breathlessly, "You sound like how I thought you would; all serious-like, I mean. Damn. This is a lot different than e-mailing, huh?"
"It is. Though to be honest, I'm much better with writing than speaking."
The fair-haired boy leans back on his bed, running a hand over his face due to how nervous he felt. He switches the ear he held his cellular phone to. "I don't mind. To be honest," he grins, snatching Resshin's phrase, "I'm probably much better with speaking in person to people than on the phone or internet combined. This'll have to do for now. And you know, I almost thought you might not call after all and I'd have to bitch you out in an e-mail demanding your number so that I could call you."
In his next words, Resshin nearly sounds amused. "If you did that, I might give you a wrong number on purpose."
"You wouldn't!" Naruto laughs with a mocking tone. "I'd kick your ass if you did that!"
"Then be thankful I actually called in the first place," Resshin says, light emotion touching his tone. "In fact, be thankful I got the number correct. That is an odd set of digits for a cell phone in this area."
Naruto nods. "Yeah, I know; Lord knows I've tried to change it, but the phone company for my phone won't let me."
"I'm lucky to not have to worry about that sort of thing," Resshin says. "I don't have a cell phone that uses a number. I more or less have a keypad attached to a screen that allows satellite internet for e-mailing, IM, and the like."
"Really? That's so cool! I know a few people at school who have stuff like that. I wanted one of those, but again: I'm better at talking," Naruto smiles. He frowns slightly. "It must have cost a lot."
"No," his e-pal replies nonchalantly. "My brother found a stable plan for it, so it doesn't cost as much. With all your talking," he teases (although his voice doesn't show it very much), "I assume you pay for more every month than I do."
"Nuh-uh!" the blonde retorts childishly. "I have a real shitty phone, so it costs, like, nothing. Besides, my dad is a relatively rich guy. Money is not too much of an issue for us aside from the credit card debt hidden up my dad's sleeve. He's getting it taken care of, though."
"That's fortunate," Resshin replies, a hint of something in his voice. Jealousy? Sadness?
"I guess so," Naruto shrugs, although the other teen could obviously not see it. "Growing up with my mom, though, was pretty rough financially. I'm a bit glad that my uncle stepped in after my mom passed. He always was the most successful of all my relations."
There was more negotiation of money problems and resolutions between the two boys, sighs coming from both of them periodically. Then talk fading into driving, cars, the likes and dislikes of each on sports, and so on. An hour passed in no time.
"Your voice sounds familiar," Resshin says suddenly. "Do you suppose we know one another after all?"
"Maybe," Naruto agrees. "I can't tell. No, I don't think you sound familiar… then again, I already said how crappy my cell phone is." He laughs. "It could be disorienting your voice, who knows? Frankly, I don't care. I like talking to you." He chuckles again, "Although, it feels like I'm saying a hell of a lot more than you are."
"I told you I wasn't the best at speaking on the phone," Resshin replies, a small smile in the background in his tone of voice. "I'm more of a listener."
"Then I guess we balance out," the blonde jokes. "You're a listener, and I'm a talker. Perfect match."
"You have a point," Resshin tells him after a short pause.
The hurricane scrunches up his nose. "It's a quarter to nine."
"I've noticed."
"Am I keeping you from doing anything?"
"Not really."
"That's good; 'cause I'm not sure I'm done with you yet. I have more to ask you."
"Like what? We're touched many a broad range of topics already."
The blonde nods. "Yeah, I know, but there's something that's driving me crazy…"
"What is it?" Resshin inquires, sounding genuinely interested in what Shippuuden had to ask.
"…Well, it's kind of cheesy and girly, but I'm wondering: have you even been in a relationship? Like, a romantic one? I know you sure can write a poem when you're in the mood that relates to that, but I was wondering whether or not it's from experience." Naruto admits. He scratches his cheek. "That's not too personal, is it?"
The earthquake goes silent on the other end of the line.
"Resshin? Are you still there?"
Even more of a pause, and Naruto was about to hang up when that deep, calm voice finally spoke: "No, I've never been in that kind of relationship. Or anything close for that matter."
"Oh…" Naruto says softly. "Sorry I asked, man."
Silence, although it was the sort that someone would shrug in place of words.
"Listen, if it's any consolation, I haven't, either. In the past one girl has liked me –"
"So you've said formerly in one of your letters."
"– But I've never pursued anyone or had anyone ask me out. Not that's I'm hideous, you know, just… I dunno, I just never got into that sort of relationship." He giggles a little nervously, "Actually, I don't even know what gender I prefer! I've never had the chance to figure it out…"
"I can understand that," Resshin informs him.
Naruto blinks on the other end of the call. "Really? That's encouraging, because I thought I was making no sense for a second there."
There is another pause, wasting 50 precious, slow moments. "It was a bit too personal of you to ask, by the way."
"Huh?" Naruto says with a start. He winces. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."
"No need to apologize. You didn't know."
Another silence, though this one wasn't as awkward. Naruto breaks it by saying, "Hmm, well, it's getting late… I should probably let you go…"
"You sound so unsure."
The blonde grins sheepishly. "'Cause I am. I know I don't have much more to say for now, and I know you're probably itching to be rid of me, yet I can't seem to let you go just yet."
"…I'm not sure I know how to interpret that, Shippuuden."
"Me either, even though I said it."
Yet another pause in the conversation…
"On second thought, I will get off the phone. We can't go around in circles like this forever. So… Bye, Resshin."
"Goodbye."
"I'll talk to you soon, alright? Expect me to be calling you randomly from now on!"
"From you," Resshin states, "I expect no less."
Naruto smiles to himself, his heart skipping a beat. "Bye now."
And then the phone clicked in his ear, signaling that the other had hung up. He shuts the cell phone with delicacy. As the blonde went about getting ready for bed, Resshin's smooth, profound voice rang in his head like a tuneless lullaby. It was even there while he slept, a low rumbling in the background of Naruto's dreams like the earthquake his e-pal was nicknamed for.
