Sakura fumed silently in her seat, Sasuke to her right and Chouji to her left. The bell had rung ten minutes ago and she had just finished convincing Naruto to go home to rest a while, also assuring him that it wasn't even close to his fault that his friends had ended up with detention. He reluctantly did end up leaving while vowing to stay outside the Academy until their sensei let them leave.
He stood in front of them, her more so than the other two, and scowled down at them. Sasuke was glaring to the side at the door while Chouji scooted closer to Sakura with his hands gripping his pants and his eyes trained to the ground. Sakura kept her chin jutted out and meeting his irritate gaze with her stone cold one.
"You three had created a huge disruption today. And that's unacceptable," he said. "Sasuke, Chouji, you'll be staying her for another hour."
Not a word.
"And you, Sakura..." He placed his palms on the desktop and leaned forward. "For yelling at a teacher, showing blatant disrespect, and cussing, we'll be having a parent teacher conference tomorrow on Saturday," he concluded. Sakura shrugged.
"Cool," she replied with her eyes still locked on his. They had darkened a considerable amount and flashed with a promise of death. A shiver lazily curled up his spine as he coughed and produced a set of packets.
"Now I can't just let you sit here and do nothing. You'll be working on these practice problems the entire hour. You may leave at 4:15."
He passed out the work then sat on his desk to observe them keenly. Sakura stared at him for a moment longer before picking up her pencil and starting the work. Simple, as always. And it gave her enough time to think about her next set of plans
::
Naruto sat on the swing outside of the Academy, pushing himself back and forth as he looked at the door guiltily. Sakura didn't have to stand up for him like that. He knew she was one of the best friends he ever had, besides Mari-san, and much more protective than he ever thought she'd be. But... But she didn't have to stand up for him. Sasuke didn't. Chouji really didn't.
He felt even guiltier when he couldn't stop a warm feeling from pooling into his chest. It was nice to know that someone cared about him enough to stand against an authority. Naruto wilted.
Why did they have to care so much?
::
Shikamaru stepped into his house with an abnormally concentrated expression. His father was sitting at the dinner table with Chouza and Inoichi who were sharing a beer and probably talking about some stories about work. Shikaku noticed his son's entrance and waved him over.
"Welcome home. Chouji-kun's not with you?" he asked. His eyebrow raised when Shikamaru's face deepened in seriousness.
"He got detention," he said.
"Detention?" Inoichi exclaimed. "Chouji-kun? What did he do?"
Chouza leaned forward curiously. His son wasn't even close to being a troublemaker. Chouji was far too shy and self-conscious to speak up about anything, much less do something that would land him on the bad side of a teacher.
"He and two others defended Naruto. Sensei graded his test really hard and gave him an F when he shoulda gotta B."
Chouza blinked. He was aware that his son had become good friends with the boy, but he never imagined that they'd be good enough friends for Chouji to move from his comfort zone. "Who were the other two?"
"Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura? I think that's their names. I was sleepin' until Sakura yelled at him and said the f-word. Troublesome." Shikamaru stared at the orange in his hands, frowning when it reminded him of the boy who Chouji stood up for. "I dunno why the grown-ups hate Naruto so much. He's loud a lot, but he's not bad. He wouldn't do something wrong," he mumbled. He retreated to his room, not seeing the clan head's surprised faces.
"An Uchiha stood up for him too? And Fugaku's son, nonetheless," Inoichi whistled. Shikaku stared at the darkened glass of his bottle.
"The girl... Haruno Sakura," he mentioned. "I met her about a few months ago in the T&I building in the basement. As far as I've heard, Ibiki and Genma had taken her in. I don't know how capable she is, but she must be at least chuunin level."
"The pink-haired one?"
"Yeah. Her."
Inoichi reclined in his seat. Before the Academy term started, he saw her pass his office nearly everyday. He didn't think too much of it until he was told she was here as a student. A child hadn't been trained in that sector all the years he'd been a part of it, and he didn't think they'd start now.
'Especially with a girl Ino's age.'
::
The teacher collected their worksheets the second the clock struck 4:15 and sent them on their way. Except for Sakura. He asked her to stay after a little longer. With a slight glare from Sasuke, he and Chouji left the room to meet with Naruto and wait for her to come out. Sakura crossed her arms as her sensei motioned her to stand in front of his desk. He shifted in his seat and laced his fingers together.
"I get that you've gotten protective over Naruto, but maybe it would be best if you would reconsider," he said. Her finger twitched. "Nothing good comes out of that... boy. You'd be much safer if you just stay away from him. He's a waste of time."
How prideful he must have felt by thinking he was doing the right thing. But how frightful he must've become when the atmosphere dampened with hostility. Sakura's entire being filled with a calm rage as she regarded the man like he was an insignificant cockroach.
"Naruto's the least of your worries, sir." She bared her teeth. "Yell at me all you want, give me all the work in the entire world, and give detention every day for the whole year, I don't care." Her eyes took form of a monster's. "As long as I'm around, I'm not gonna let anything happen to him. It doesn't matter what I have to say or what I have to do, but if something happens to him..."
Fear scratched at his lungs.
"... You're gonna see who the real demon is."
The air cleared with that and she took her leave. The teacher watched her go, not able to stop his hands from shaking. She wasn't normal, and now he knew that for a fact. Her intelligence was off the charts, her physical prowess was far higher than any six year old should be, and he didn't think there was anything he could do to curb that attitude of hers. He looked out the classroom window to see Sakura meet up with the boys who waited for her.
Green flickered in his direction, and there was only one thing that came to mind.
Dangerous.
::
"Y-You're back!"
In the backdrop of a setting sun and the sound of a gently running river, Gaara sat on the bank with his puppet clutched closely to his chest. Sasori sat down beside him with a relaxed sigh as he stretched out his legs in front of him. It's been some time since he'd gone to visit the boy- a few months, at least.
"I've had some spare time, so I decided to drop by for a visit," he said. He patted Gaara's head lightly, "How are things?"
The boy deflated. He tucked his knees closer to him and stared down at the puppet in his hands. He never showed it to anyone in fear of them taking it away. Komushi was the only one who knew only because he was there the day it was given to him. "Tou-sama still doesn't like me," he mumbled, "but I got Yashamaru. I... I hurt him sometimes, but he's still there. More than tou-sama. I like him, but no one else likes me, except him and Kaa-san."
Kaa-san. Sasori could assume the mother he was referring to the tailed beast locked inside him. Then there was Yashamaru- a close associate of the Kazekage, if he wasn't mistaken. And if memory served him true, he also died at the hands of the boy's Ichibi.
Perhaps he could prevent that.
"Just because your father isn't nice to you doesn't mean he doesn't love you," Sasori said, picking his words out carefully. "It might be difficult for him because of who he thinks you are, not who you really are."
Gaara's shoulders dropped as he looked up at Sasori. "Then who am I, Hiruko?" he asked. The older man vaguely remembered the alias he gave as he patted the boy's head again, a light smile on his face.
"No one else but you. Keep that in mind."
The boy turned his attention to the river. It was one of the only ones near Sunagakure and contrasted greatly with the arid topography of the country. He came here all the time to clear his mind and hopefully be without Kaa-san for a little bit. It was lonely, yeah, but it calmed him down enough to the point where he could continuously tell himself to lower his incidents back at home.
"But—But what if I can't?"
"I believe in you," Sasori said.
Gaara stared at the older man. He was amazed in the faith this man placed in him despite this being only their second meeting. Carefully, he leaned into Sasori's arm and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't move away.
"You... You're gonna leave soon, aren't you?"
"Mm."
"But then you'll come back a-again, right?"
"I will..."
The stars twinkled overhead.
"...I promise."
::
Gaara sat on the ledge of the rooftop of his father's building as he stared down at his hands. After talking with Hiruko, he felt much happier. Hiruko was his second real friend who was so open with him and didn't look at him like he was a monster.
But those things he said... were they true? Did his father really love him?
If his father loved him, why did he look at him with the same eyes as everyone else? Like he wasn't wanted?
Suddenly, sand shot up behind him and curled into a shield to block the projectiles launched in his direction. Gaara whipped around to see a shinobi poised in an offensive position, kunai hovering in the air before them. His eyes widened.
'Why...'
The boy clenched his teeth and stepped down from the ledge.
'Why is it always me?!'
The shinobi sent even more kunai towards him- a futile attempt. The shield furthered its reach and blocked Gaara's front.
'What did I ever do to deserve this?!'
With an open palm, his hand shot upwards. Sand wrapped around the enemy like an angry serpent and dragged him up above ground. They would've been crushed so easily if Gaara hadn't paused his actions. The title of Monster ran through his head, angering him. Lifting a rage he wouldn't think to contain. But Hiruko's easy, knowing voice flowed through those thoughts and slowly crumbled them to bits and pieces.
He was human.
Human.
The sand diffused abruptly and retreated back to where it came from, dropping the shinobi and leaving them unharmed. Gaara stepped forward reluctantly, but his eyes had hardened and his lips were pressed in a thin line.
"I'm not a monster," he murmured. The shinobi, even masked, seemed to be confused for a few brief moments before they stood up.
"You are," the stranger said. Gaara froze. He knew that voice. "Because of that, your kaa-san never loved you, and in turn, you killed her. Isn't that what monsters do?" The shinobi tugged the cloth off his face, revealing none other than Yashamaru. Gaara fell to his knees, the feeling of betrayal seeping into his veins. "She named you because you were a self-loving carnage. You're nothing but the filth that killed her—the filth that killed my sister," he hissed.
::
Unbeknownst to Gaara, his heart was breaking with every word he spoke. He regretted the decision of accepting this mission from Rasa. All he wanted was to teach his nephew what it meant to feel pain and love, but now he could see that he was going too far. He loved Gaara to death, and he couldn't bear to have any more orchestrated attacks against him.
The boy's fists clenched as the sand swirled again. Yashamaru waited for another attack, but was thoroughly surprised when the grains dropped again.
"No."
Would he have to do it? He had never seen Gaara show such restraint before, much less keep his sand at bay. This would be one last test. To help the boy grow and understand. So he zipped open his flak jacket, exposing numerous explosive tags stuck against his torso.
"If that's how it's going to be..."
The sand rose up again and shot towards him as his hand came up and formed a seal.
"... then please die."
"YASHAMARU!"
There was a loud explosion before the village went silent once more.
::
EDITED 1/30/18
