However, when I see the person, all thoughts of battle leave m mind. It is Shikamaru, one of the students in my English class.

We aren't even acquaintances so I am curious as to why he's next to me. "Yes?" I question evenly.

He removes his hand from my shoulder. "Hey, Gaara, uh…well, I have a favor to ask you." I raise one of my light eyebrows at him. "It's nothing big, I just need a partner for this project and I was wondering if you would mind being paired with me." He stares at me with a blank expression.

Instead of being entirely rude to the other boy, like I normally would be, I tried to think of the best choice for me to make. Considering the fact that I was homeless(though I would be staying with the blonde, I didn't count that as my permanent home) and would be in need of help, I figured that I should try to strengthen my bonds with other people around me. That way, I will not have to go through this completely alone.

I sigh at myself for thinking of befriending someone so easily. It's not as though I've had enough experience with other people to know how they will react to my attempts and I believe that rejection will only make my situation seem worse.

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow at my sigh. "It's not like I'll be riding on your back- I can do my share of the work, it's just that," he sighs and looks over a plump boy and a blonde girl. "They're too annoying together. They drive me crazy sometimes, you know?"

"As a matter of fact I do," I say to him flatly.

He smirks back at me. "So, I'll take that as a yes." He pulls up one of the stools to take a seat next to me casually. He didn't seem as…uncomfortable as most were when it came to interacting with me. To the contrary, I felt like this was a very calming environment, regardless of the two sitting next to me that had resumed their noise-making since their partner found them.

His aura reflects mine in ways and I find this comforting.

Befriending Shikamaru suddenly seems more appealing to me. I begin wondering why as he starts making small talk with me.

It was harder to talk with him than with Naruto because Shikamaru was a "give and take" type; he would start off one thing and expect me to finish it, unlike the aforementioned blonde.

Already thanks to the brunette, I could feel myself losing tension that built up in a number of days. I am enjoying his company so much (or at least I believe that is the best way to describe my foreign emotions) that I barely notice Mr. Hatake enter the school library. He asked me to be quiet for a moment-though he was skeptical to whether it was actually me speaking or not-while he explained what we were doing.

Class has ended only minutes ago but I am already leaving school, as usual. I walk at my own pace, through a "secret" pathway I like to take. Its isolated and hardly anyone ever treks here, making it very appealing to me.

Halfway through my normal walk to home, I realize that that place isn't my home any more.

Sighing, I turn around and journey back to school.

Naruto is standing by the entrance, chatting with his friends. When he sees me, he gestures for me to come over. I shake my head at him, trying to decline without drawing much attention.

The blonde, who is not one to take "no" as an answer, walks over to me.

"Gaara, come on. I want you to meet my friends," he says to me as he tugs at my arm.

At first I flinch at the touch, almost yanking myself away from his grasp, but I manage to resist my natural reflex. I am dragged behind the blonde to his friends.

"Hey guys, you know Gaara, right? Gaara, these are my friends Sai, Kiba, Sakura, Shino, Lee, Shikamaru, Neji and Ino." He points to everyone directly so I know who's who.

I greet them with nods of acknowledgment, which some return. The others choose to verbally greet me, like Shikamaru, who gives me an informal yo.

'So, Gaara, where'd you go so fast after class? I looked away for a moment and you were gone."

"I like to leave early," I tell him.

He nods. "I hear ya'. Gotta' beat the traffic." He shrugs. "Personally, I prefer to leave later. Still people, but not as much."

Naruto and the rest of his friends were watching me with amazement.

"You actually spoke," Ino says plainly, her eyebrows raised.

"I do have a mouth and vocal cords like everyone else- why would I not speak?" I ask the blonde girl smartly.

She was taken aback, which made the rest of the people laugh at her.

"You tell her, Gaara!" Kiba laughs, giving me a playful shove.

Sakura agreed. "Damn, Ino, he really got you."

Said girl rolled her eyes, recovering from her embarrassment quickly. "Whatever. I still can't believe he spoke." Directed to me, she tells me, "you friends with Naruto?"

I nod and the blonde wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Pssh," he says, " we're besties, Ino. Get it right."

"Naruto, don't throw yourself on him," Sakura laughs.

Ino laughs too. "You're so desperate- hittin' on Gaara and he doesn't even know it."

The two girls laugh with each other while the other boys-mostly Kiba and Sai- teasingly make fun of Naruto by saying he had "wet dreams" about me. I didn't understand what peeing the bed had to do with me, but Naruto obviously was insulted by it and pulled me away again.

"Don't break him, Naruto," Kiba shouts after Naruto. The blonde responds by flipping him the bird, which only sets off the laughter behind us.

I had a lot of questions for my blonde companion now.

So, I finally got another chapter up here, albeit a little short. I have more testing this week in school, I'm super stressed and super depressed, so if this isn't any good, I'm very sorry, but I've been out of it- just know I tried, dammit T3T

Reviews maybe?