Vindicated

Chapter 7: Tryouts

(4th period Gym- Gaara etc)

"Gaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaa!"

Gaara rolled his eyes at the sing song voice as the pink ball of preppiness what was Sakura latched onto his arm. He had actually stayed out in the gym for the whole period because he had been having fun playing Frisbee with Ino, Sakura and Haku who begged to play too, this caused him to get out of the locker later then usual. He had to convince Haku that he felt really self conscious, changing in front of other people, while the boy came over to his locker with him. (not in a perverted kind of way, he just wants to get to know him more).

"Where do you eat lunch?" Sakura asked, giving his arm a light tug.

"Why?" Gaara responded, choosing to try to avoid the question. He didn't want to think about what her reaction would be if she knew he ate his lunch between the vending machines.

Ino suddenly came up, latching onto his other arm. "We want to invite you to our lunch table!" she said.

Gaara blinked. "Oh, that's ok…you don't have to—"

"To bad," they said in unison, pulling him along.

"But—"

"No buts!" they said.

"Oh my god! Are you serious!"

"Yeah!"

"No way!"

"Yep. Shita said that she said that he said that she said that she said that he said that we said that I said that he said that you said that they said that we said that Sasuke is cool…"

"Sasuke-kun is mine, Ino! Don't even TRY to take him away."

"Oh-ho, Sakura? Are you sure? Don't you know that lying is very unbecoming of you?"

"So anyway I thought that this color would be a better color than that one."

"Did you hear anything about the dance?"

"Oh my god! The boy's soccer tryouts are today! I wanna stay after and watch, but Genma-sensei's real strict about that."

"Oh I know! It's such a shame I wanna see all the boys trying out! They're so hot!"

"Ino-chan, do you still work at the hair salon? I think I might come today to get my hair done."

"Sure, dear. I'm working after school today so come around three. I think I have an opening."

Haku glomped onto Gaara talking randomly about maybe five things at the same time. Gaara just continued to stare over their heads with a funny look on his face. He thought his brain was going to implode. It was getting completely unbearable. Finally he stood, saying he had to go to the bathroom and, grabbing his bag, left the cafeteria and went to the bathrooms, hiding there until lunch was over.

'Never again…'

Kankurou glanced over at Neji, who couldn't sit still all period. It was getting annoying. Who cares about soccer tryouts? From what he'd heard around school, it was almost painfully apparent that Neji would be on the team no matter what. Even Kankurou's druggies knew he was incredibly good…speaking of he needed to meet one of them in five minutes in the second floor bathroom. He got the pass and left the room, unnoticed by the hyper Neji.

Hinata looked up from her paper where she was trying to take notes. Her long, black lace sleeve fluttered silently as she brought her arm off from where it rested on the desk. Neji and Kiba, who was also going to try out for JV, were talking none stop about soccer. Finally she gave them a look.

"Neji, Kiba….I'd appreciate if you would stop," she said in her low calm voice.

Neji and Kiba stopped instantly. 'Whoa…it just got really cold in here…' they both thought.

Gaara grabbed his books and followed the rest of his class out of their 7th period class as the bell rang for school's end. He ignored the loud chatter, insults and music that the students exchanged with each other. Even when someone shoved him out of their way, he simply ducked his head and tried to hurry away.

"Hey! Get back here!" some one grabbed his shoulder and wrenched him back. "I think you should apologize for bumping us."

"Sorry," Gaara said, wincing at the pain from the pull.

The boys laughed and shoved him away. This didn't bother him much though. He had too much on his mind. He'd never stayed after school before…and had never watched any kind of tryouts. Nor had he gone home without Temari and Kankurou before. If they got expelled, one of them would always come to walk home with him. He always thought they were being over protective, but he found he came to count on their presents for comfort. He felt he would be ok if he was with Neji, but Neji would have other things on his mind and would have his other friends there, sharing the things he loved, like soccer. It made Gaara feel very left out, but Neji seemed so happy that he agreed to come watch him tryout, Gaara couldn't help not wanting to see Neji play. Maybe he could finally find out why Neji was so obsessed with this game.

He followed a few boys into the boy's locker room and spotted Neji almost right away. Gaara smiled as he saw Neji laughing and talking excitedly with his friends from the team. He didn't make himself known though, he felt very shy and insignificant among all the noise and laughter. Instead he watched them, peeking out from behind a locker. One of Neji's friends, one Gaara recognized from his party, noticed Gaara and pointed him out to Neji. Neji turned and saw him, his face breaking out in an even bigger smile, causing Gaara's stomach to go a-flutter. He went over to Gaara, taking his hand, and pulling him over to his friends to introduce him to them. Neji told him each of their names, but Gaara forgot them all instantly and resided to call them soccer players # 1-7. Hiding behind Neji, Gaara peeked out and said hello, then glanced up at Neji.

"How are you going to tryout?" Gaara asked Neji, quietly. "It's raining outside."

"We're just gonna have like a major workout in the gym to see who're wimps and who really wants to play," soccer player #3 said.

"Oh," Gaara said, quietly, feeling stupid for asking.

Some one goofing off with his friends bumped into Gaara, knocking him forward. Soccer player #6 caught him, asking if he was ok. Gaara said he was then told Neji he was going to wait outside. He darted off, blushing, glad to be out of the stuffy room.

"Is he really your new boyfriend, Neji?" soccer player #2 asked as Gaara turned the corner, out the door.

"Yeah, so what?" Neji said, defensively.

"Cool down, I was just wondering," he said holding his hands up. "He's really shy."

"I guess, but I don't really care," Neji said, finishing getting changed and looking after Gaara. "He's … sweet," he finished.

"He's uke right?" said #5 with a stupid grin on his face.

"Shut up!" Neji chucked his duffle bag at the boy's head.

Gaara sat down on the gym bleachers as far away from where the tryoutees (Shukaku: da f?) were gathering as he could, waiting patiently for Neji to come out. He really felt out of place. He wanted to watch Neji, but would have felt much more comfortable if it was just him and Neji alone. The other boys made him feel completely out of Neji's ring of friends. He knew it was unintentional, and that he was just being stupid but he felt he couldn't help it. Gaara covered his face with his hand. He was so stupid.

"Hello there," said a sudden shadow that fell over him.

Gaara looked up at the boy standing over him. He was dressed in shorts and a light t-shirt, obviously trying out. His semi long dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail at his neck. His black eyes were flecked with red, making Gaara think he was wearing funny contacts but didn't think about it as those eyes bore into him.

Gaara swallowed. "Hi.." he replied quietly.

"Are you trying out?"

"N—no, I'm just watching."

"I see," the boys said in his slow soft speech, reminding Gaara of Hinata. He reached out and rubbed Gaara's chin, ignoring the startled looked on Gaara's face. "That's good…I wouldn't want to see such a fragile looking thing get hurt while playing a game as rough as this. Or do you like that?" his face was almost touching Gaara's.

Gaara felt himself blushing and starting to shake. "Please stop," he begged.

"Aw…why? Am I making you feel…uncomfortable?" he said into Gaara's neck, his soft breath playing in his ear.

"Stop!"

"Uchiha! Leave the boy alone and get over with the others!" came Genma's voice as he came out of his office.

The boy sighed and backed away from Gaara and went over to sit on the other side of the bleachers. Gaara tried to calm himself down and stop his shaking. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, resisting the urge to run over to Neji, who chose that moment to come out of the locker room. Gaara was really freaked out. The boy had gotten too close for Gaara to ever be comfortable; Haku never got that close.

"Hey Gaara, are you trying out?" Genma asked in surprise as he approached him.

"N—no, Neji wanted me to watch him," Gaara replied, his voice shaking worse then his hands.

"Oh, alright then. I usually don't let people watch, but I can make an exception if you promise not to distract my boys."

"I wont," Gaara promised.

Genma nodded then turned to all the tryoutees sitting on the bleachers.

"Alright you lot! Listen up! I'm not gonna put up with your shitty crap all day!" Several boys laughed at the thought of a teacher cussing them out. "You're laughing. You think it's funny. But I'm serious. You little ass fuckers don't take me seriously and you will SERIOUSLY regret it." Silence. "Listen and listen good! Ok! I want my newbie's sitting together over there and my old players over here!" All the boys scrambled to sit down. "Alright, my name is Shiranui Genma. You can call me Coach Genma or just Coach. Anything else will get you kicked off my team. Tryouts will be every day after school this week. Do not be late. Don't come up to me and say 'I had to kiss my girlfriend goodbye'—No! You come straight here! You kiss them all day in the hallway before classes anyway. If you skip school, or a class and still come to tryouts and/or practice and I find out—and trust me I will, I will personally shit kick your sorry ass out of this school and off my team."

DEAD SILENCE.

"Now," (much happier tone), "the papers I'm about to hand out to you must be filled out and brought to me tomorrow before practice with your parents signature. No exceptions. Gaara!" Gaara blinked and looked up, surprised at being addressed. "Help me pass these papers out, will you?"

Gaara got up, hurrying to do what he was told, Genma was scarier then he thought. Several players chuckled at him from behind their hands as he fumbled with the papers and at his stammering speech. One started making fun of him aloud, but was cut off as Neji stomped on his foot. The boy glared at Neji, who simply smiled innocently and thanked Gaara as he was given the papers. Gaara handed out the four different papers to each of the tryoutees. After they looked at them and put them away, Genma called them out for stretching then had them jog around the gym. He came up to Gaara and sat down next to him.

"Hey, are you going to be here for any of the other tryouts?" he asked the red head.

Gaara nodded.

"What about the practices?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"You see I was looking for a helper and was wondering if you would be willing."

Gaara looked up at him. "A helper?"

"Yeah, like you help me out and take notes for me and come to the games also and just help me out," Genma said. "You don't have too if you don't want to."

"I'll do it," Gaara said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Good, cause if you said no I was going to have to black mail you into it." Genma laughed at Gaara's startled expression. "I'm just kidding," he said, giving Gaara's head a little pat-pat. "You know, you could play with us a little if you wanted."

Gaara started and shook his head frantically.

"You sure? Cause, you know, you're like skin and bones," Genma said holding out Gaara's arm. "You could use some muscle on you." Gaara gave a nervous laugh, not quite sure of what to say. "You think about it, ok? I got to go whip these lazies into shape."

Genma got up and called the boys into a line. Genma pointed out the twelve stations he'd set up around the gym before they came and explained how to do each stretch at each station, then how to do each exercise at each station. After bringing a bunch of soccer balls out and placing them at their respective station, Genma separated them in groups and sent each to a station. After they worked at the station, they jogged around—jogged not walked fast (put in for H-R's old coach)—then went to the next station, then repeated the process.

Gaara watched them all the whole time, eyes wide with impression. He couldn't run like that even if his life depended on it. He realized he wanted to be able to do the things they were doing too.

Flashback

"You know, you could play with us a little if you wanted."

End Flashback

Gaara pulled his knees up to his chest. He didn't want to play in front of the other boys though. They'd laugh at him and push him around. Neji would see how pathetic he was and not want to be with him anymore. He wouldn't play. Never.

Genma blew his whistle and the boys stopped what they were doing and went over to him. Gaara couldn't hear what Genma was telling them, but after he was finished they all went into the locker room to get their stuff. The two and a half hours were up. Practice was over.

Gaara waited outside the boys locker room until the boys began filing out, dressed in their normal school clothes, talking about the tryouts. Most barely glanced at him, but a few, noting that the devious foot stomper was still in the locker room went up to him in their group. Gaara pressed himself as far into the wall as he could, the feeling of closed space not going unnoticed.

"Hi," said one of the boys.

Gaara didn't answer; his voice was caught in his throat.

"It's rude to ignore some one when they say 'hi', you know," said the boy leaning against the wall to his left. With his foot he gave the back of Gaara's knee a sharp tap, causing him to fall.

A black haired boy grabbed Gaara's shirt and steadied him, but in a rough way that made him loose his balance. Five boys in all, they began laughing at him shoving him to the ground, pulling him back up so that he would fall again. Trying to avoid them, Gaara brought his arms over his head, despite the pain in his side from the stretching of his skin, and dropped completely to the ground. As one of the boys reached to grab him again, Gaara's shirt slipped up and the boy saw part of his back.

"Oh…ew…what the hell…"

Gaara fought to cover the skin on his back again, but not before the other boys saw it as well. They backed away from him staring, then left, muttering to themselves about the scars and burns they had seen. Gaara pulled his shirt down again and slowly stood up and hurried to the bleachers to wait for Neji.

"Hey there, you ok?" Neji asked when he came out and found Gaara.

"I'm fine," Gaara said, scuffing his feet.

"You sure? Cause you seem kinda…blegh…" Neji made a 'blegh' face.

"I'm fine."

"Alright, I'll walk you home ok?" Neji smiled at him and led him outside. He was still dressed in the clothes he wore to tryout. He had pulled his long hair into a ponytail to keep it off his face. Loose hairs were sticking to his forehead from sweat. Neji pulled a towel out of his bag and wiped his face as they walked out into the cool early spring air.

"Wont you get sick, walking around in just you shorts and a t-shirt?" Gaara asked, worry in his voice.

"Ah…I'm really not s'pose to, but I hate putting on clean clothes when I'm all sweaty," Neji explained. Some one bumped Neji as they walked by, the boy turned to see what he bumped into then continued on. Neji glared after him. "I really don't like that kid. He's such as ass, but he's a good player. He's in the senior class, Uchiha Itachi."

Gaara nodded, but didn't say anything. It was the boy who was fond of invading his personal space.

"What was coach talking to you about while we were warming up?"

"Um, he wanted to know if I was coming to the other tryouts and practices. He said he wants me to be his helper," Gaara replied, adjusting his back pack on his shoulder.

Neji's face brightened. "That's cool, then you could come a lot and we can spend more time together. And you'll have an excuse to stay away from home." As he said this, his excitedness dropped. If he had it his way, Gaara would never go home again, or at least not to that house.

"I'm home," Neji called into the Hyuga house as he walked in after dropping Gaara off at his house.

"Neji, would you come here please?" came his uncle's voice from his study.

Neji went in and closed the door behind him, smiling as he entered.

"Neji I need to ask you something important. Two things actually," Hiashi leaned on his elbows on his desk. "First, is there something going on at you new friend's house?"

Neji inwardly freak out. "What makes you ask that?" he replied, trying not lo let his voice squeak.

"I'm not sure. I've been thinking about those three since Gaara's party. I can't put my finger on it, but they, especially Gaara, don't seem to feel comfortable talking about their home life or family and they all seem to be hiding things. And I was very confused when you asked me to ask their father to let them come, but instead of telling him that if was a party for Gaara you said to say it was a sleepover for school."

"Ah…I didn't want Gaara to find out that it was a party. It was a surprise, remember?" Neji said quickly. "What was the second thing?" he asked, laughing nervously.

"……It's about this Friday."

Neji stopped laughing and looked down at the floor. "I didn't think about it," he said quietly.

"I see, that's alright," Hiashi said. "Don't think about it yet. Get through the rest of your week and your tryouts. Think about it later."

"Alright."

Kankurou stared with the little dot eyes and no mouth face. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed with the rest of his homework laid out in front of him. Standing at the foot of his bed, talking non-stop since he got home was Gaara. Kankurou wasn't sure what Neji did to his brother, but Gaara had never talked so much in his entire life and Kankurou wasn't sure if he was sick or not. He decided not, since he looked so happy as explained the stations and each of the exercise and how Genma asked him to be his helper. Kankurou smiled as Gaara finally stopped and sat down to catch his breath.

"So nothing bad happened? You had fun?" he asked, resting his chin in his hand.

The first question cause a stumble in the boy's talking. Concerned, Kankurou moved forward so that his legs were hanging over the foot of the bed. Gaara knew better then to move away so he was standing in front of him, biting nervously at his sleeve. Gently, Kankurou removed his sleeve from his mouth and held both his arms down to help him resist the temptation.

"Well?"

"Th—there was…this boy…" Gaara started. "He—he was…bothering me…"

"Where was Neji?"

"In—in the locker room."

"Who was this guy?" Kankurou asked.

"Neji said his name was Uchiha Itachi," Gaara murmured.

If Gaara had looked up, he would have seen a look of recognition in his brother's face. But he didn't look up, sparing Kankurou an explanation.

"Then…there were these other boys…" Gaara continued, stumbling over his words. Kankurou raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had thought Gaara was done. He was glad Gaara expected him to press, or he doubted he would have found out about this part.

"What happened?" Kankurou asked.

"They were…pushing me and—and l—laughing…" Gaara stared down at his wrists in Kankurou's hands, biting his lip. He hated laughing—when they laughed at him. Kankurou knew it too and felt bad, knowing that hurt him more then anything. "They—they saw….them."

"Saw what?"

"My…my back," Gaara said quietly. "N—not all of it…j—just a little bit. Then they left."

Now it was Kankurou's turn to bite his lip and look down. He murmured quietly that he was sorry, feeling Gaara fumbling with his fingers and thumbs nervously. Trying again, he looked up smiling.

"So, you want to go tomorrow?" he asked. "Cause if you don't—"

"Yes I want to go!" Gaara insisted. "Tomorrow, since it's supposed to be sunny they're going to play outside and…."

And on he went. The whole time Kankurou smiled and listened, trying not to think about the problems that haunted his little brother like a evil ghost.

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Its 2 am and I'm sorry but I dont wanna do any author notes. I'll do it later