Hey, so I have finals coming up so there won't be an update next week. Instead, have this slightly longer chapter!

All characters belong to Kishimoto-san.

Chapter 7: It's Only the First Day, Gaara

Shikamaru wasn't sure what he had done wrong—though if he thought about it, he was absolutely sure he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place, although Temari kept giving him angry glances every once in a while, when she thought he wasn't looking—but he knew he had to make amends, though he wasn't sure how or when he should. It wouldn't be good for him if Tsunade found out. Or worse, his mother.

Which was ironic, since it was his mother's fault for signing him up as a guide in the first place. But his mother wasn't someone he could go against, so it was really Naruto's fault for mentioning it.

Originally, Shikamaru figured he would only have to deal with the Kazekage's children during break and lunch, and maybe one class, but instead they turned out to be in all but two classes. And, knowing his luck, he'd probably end up with at least one of them for the elective class, though he wasn't too sure why they would decide to join a "boring" club like shogi.

Shikamaru packed up his things—not that he had taken much out in the first place—and followed Temari and Kankuro out of Asuma's class, making sure to keep a decent distance between himself and the angry daughter of the Kazekage.

"Is it lunch time now?" Kankuro asked, sounding eager.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to sigh. "Yeah. Are you guys buying lunch? The line's this way."

Kankuro nodded and Shikamaru led them to where the lunch line had started forming. He stood in line with them, even though his mother had packed him lunch. The three of them stood in silence, and it was not long before he spotted Sakura, with Gaara, Ino, and Chouji, coming in their direction.

"Hey, how was fourth period?" Sakura asked the two older exchange students as they got in line behind them. Shikamaru could tell she was just asking out of duty. Who would ask such a boring question, anyways?

"We just came from P.E.," Sakura continued, gesturing to herself as well as the three students behind her.

Kankuro shrugged, his attention focused on the shortening line in front of him.

"It was fine," Temari answered.

Ino chose this time to step forward and introduce herself and Chouji. She extended a hand and Shikamaru had to give credit for Ino's bravery: she was willingly offering a hand to them.

"Hi, you must be Gaara's siblings. I'm Shikamaru and Sakura's friend, Ino, and this is Chouji."

Temari and Kankuro shook her hand, introducing themselves.

"What class did you just come from?"

"Calculus with Asuma," Temari replied, giving Shikamaru a side glance. "With this guy here."

Ino smirked knowingly. "Was Shikamaru sleeping? He always sleeps in class."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really, now? Then I guess today wasn't an exception."

Shikamaru sighed. He had a feeling the two girls were going to get along really well, as if Ino wasn't troublesome enough on her own. Fortunately, he was saved from further embarrassment when they finally arrived at the front of the line. Kankuro was already filling his plate with food, and Shikamaru mentally urged Temari to hurry up so he could start eating lunch already. The faster they started eating, the faster Shikamaru wouldn't have to attempt to talk and hold a conversation with the three siblings.

The Sunagakure citizens eventually finished getting their food, and the group made their way out, trying to find a spot to sit down and eat.

"Hey, Gaara, over here! Oh, and Sakura-chan and Shikamaru!"

It was Naruto, who was standing by a table near Kakashi's room. Shikamaru spotted their other friends already there: Sasuke, seeming disinterested as usual; Hinata, who was quietly eating her lunch; and Kiba and Shino, who were trying to get Naruto to sit down.

"They can hear us, Naruto!" Kiba said, pulling on the other boy's shirt. "You don't need to stand up and cause a scene."

"Yeah, but they might not see where we're sitting!" Naruto protested, continuing his enthusiastic wave.

Kiba rolled his eyes and gave up. "Yeah, whatever, man. It's your lunch that's getting cold, not mine."

"Naruto," Gaara greeted as they approached. Naruto grinned.

"Hey, Gaara! Come sit next to me!" Naruto scooted over, accidently knocking over Sasuke's lunch, which spilled onto him as well as Hinata, who was sitting directly across. Shikamaru groaned. Leave it to Naruto to ruin lunch on the first day.

"Idiot!" Sasuke growled as Naruto apologized profusely.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, Sasuke, Hinata-chan!" Naruto frantically tried to wipe the food with his napkin, but Sasuke shrugged him off.

"Forget it." The raven-haired boy stood up. "I'll clean this up myself."

"At least let me buy you lunch again!" Naruto suggested. "I still have some money, dattebayo! I was going to save it for ramen after school, but I can just buy you lunch!"

"And let you spill it again? No thanks." Sasuke gave him an annoyed look and walked off. Naruto turned to the second victim.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, lamely offering his napkin.

"It's fine, Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly, her face growing red. Of course, she would forgive him for something like this, thought Shikamaru. It was apparent to everyone but Naruto how much Hinata liked him.

"Naruto, you're such an idiot!" Sakura scolded as she sat down next to Hinata and helped her clean up.

"I'm sorry," Naruto muttered, looking at the ground.

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, there's no point in you worrying about it anymore. You've already made a mess, so just sit down and eat your lunch, Naruto."

Naruto nodded reluctantly. "Well, you can take Sasuke's spot now, Gaara."

Gaara frowned. "Won't he come back?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, once he leaves, he doesn't come back. Honestly though, if I didn't spill his lunch, he still would've eventually left, dattebayo."

Gaara looked unsure but sat down anyways, with his two older siblings choosing to sit next to him, and Ino and Chouji sitting down next to Sakura. Which left Shikamaru with the only option left: to sit next to Temari.

Shikamaru cautiously sat down next to the girl, trying to read her reaction.

"Oh, just sit down already!" Temari said impatiently and Shikamaru jumped slightly, which earned him a few snickers from Naruto and Kiba. Shikamaru glared at his supposed friends. How could they not realize how scary the Kazekage's children were? Even worse, Naruto wanted to be friends with them.

"So, you're Temari and Kankuro?" Kiba asked, initiating a conversation in the silence. "And you're the Kazekage's children? What's that like? How's the Kazekage? Is he really cool?"

Kankuro shrugged, shoving food into his mouth. "It's a'ight. We don't see him much, though. He's busy most of the time, though he's a really good fighter. He's way better than your Hokage."

"Kankuro!" Temari hissed. "Don't start a fight."

Her warning came too late as Naruto stood up aggressively. "Hey, the Hokage's really good, too! Just you wait 'til I become Hokage!"

"Naruto, please sit down," Shikamaru said wearily. "You don't want to knock over another person's lunch, do you?"

"Oh, right!" Naruto said, hastily sitting back down again. He turned to the three exchange students and started to introduce the rest of their friends. Shikamaru blocked the noise out and focused on his lunch. It was only the first day of high school, but he felt tired already. There was just way too much excitement. Shikamaru wondered if the rest of the year would also be like the first day, but then mentally scolded himself for such a ridiculous question. It was a fact, especially with Naruto around, that the rest of the year was going to be far from calm.

.

Temari finished her lunch, trying patiently to listen to the boys' conversation about some video game or another. Kankuro was talking excitedly, gesturing wildly with his hands, which received a few laughs from Naruto, Shikamaru's friend Chouji, and the two other boys who had introduced themselves as Kiba and Shino.

On the other side of the table, the girls were having their own separate conversation, with Ino and Sakura having a small argument of some sort. The only person bored here, besides herself, was the one and only lazy ass of Konoha High. She noticed he had finished eating and was nodding off again. She had two options: it was either be with him, or sit here uncomfortably for another fifteen minutes.

She decided to go with the former. Temari nudged the sleeping boy—although a bit too hardly—and he woke up, looking extremely alarmed, before his unfocused gaze landed on her.

"What is it?"

"Get up," Temari demanded, not giving him any time to protest. "We're going to go take a look at the clubs. You said they'd be out at lunch, right? And anyways, you're already done eating."

Shikamaru looked confused. "Oh."

Temari got up, looking at him expectantly. Shikamaru shrugged uneasily and followed along.

"Hey, we're leaving first," Shikamaru told his friends. "I'm going to show her the clubs and stuff."

"Wait!" Naruto said, cramming the last of his lunch into his mouth. "I'm done, too. Let's all go together-ttebayo. Gaara hasn't decided what to join either, right?"

Temari frowned. This wasn't what she had in mind; she was trying to avoid the large group, not stick with it.

"You guys go ahead," Kiba said, leaning back in his chair. "Shino and I have already signed up for one."

"Let's split up into two groups, boys and girls," Ino suggested. Temari decided she rather liked the other girl.

Everyone voiced their agreements, and Temari saw how relieved Shikamaru looked, which made her angry. Did her presence bother him that much? Or was he simply sick of leading them around all day? Why was he even a guide if he didn't want to be one?

"Alright, let's go!" Naruto shouted, his loud voice interrupting Temari from her thoughts. Temari cleared her head and followed Sakura to the other side of campus.

.

Gaara trailed behind Naruto, watching the other boy's facial expressions as they examined each club.

"Apparently there's a drama club," Naruto said as he read a sign by a table, his voice a mix of horror and disgust. "Who would join such a thing?"

"Right, and who in their right mind would join a fight club?" Shikamaru countered.

Naruto scoffed. "Says the one who's in the most boring one ever."

"Shogi isn't boring."

"You're in a shogi club?" Kankuro asked, looking impressed and Gaara understood why. Shogi was a strategic game, one that required intelligence and good planning skills. "Are you any good?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm okay."

"Yeah, right," Naruto accused. "You're the best player in Konoha High, maybe even in all of Konoha!"

"Except for his father," Chouji said. Gaara noticed how he had another bag of chips with him. "No one beats Shikaku-san."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Shikamaru will beat him one day," Naruto said confidently. His blue eyes lit up as he spied something in the distance—or rather, someone.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka turned out to be a man with black hair tied up in a ponytail, with a scar across his face. Despite the scar, Iruka looked like a friendly teacher and he greeted Naruto with a warm smile.

"Naruto, how have you been?"

"I've been fine, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said. He revealed Gaara and Kankuro. "These are my new friends, Gaara and Kankuro! They're the Kazekage's children, dattebayo!"

Iruka's expression changed to one of caution and respect. He nodded his head politely in their direction.

"Hello, Gaara-san, Kankuro-san," Iruka said, bowing slightly. "I'm a teacher here, Umino Iruka."

"He teaches math!" Naruto said. "In fact, I actually have you for the next class, Iruka-sensei! Also, why are you being so polite to them? You're older than them, aren't you?"

Iruka gave Naruto a thin smile. "Yes, that's right, but a certain manner of politeness should be maintained when talking to the Kazekage's children, Naruto."

"It's fine, Iruka-san," Gaara interjected. "You do not have to speak so respectfully towards us, even if we are the Kazekage's children. As of today, we are merely Wind country exchange students here."

Iruka nodded, looking unsure. "Well, it was nice seeing you, Naruto, but I have some things I need to do up at the office. I'll see you after school."

"Aw, okay," Naruto said disappointedly. "Don't be late!"

Naruto watched him walk off before turning back to his friends. "Come on, the fight club's this way!"

"What is the fight club?" asked Kankuro. "You keep saying that, but don't tell me it's actually a club where you just fight and stuff."

"It's officially the self-defense club," Shikamaru explained. "A lot of the members want to be the future Hokage; in fact, the club was formed by our current Hokage when he was here."

"Doesn't that make the club super old or something?" Kankuro said.

"Yeah, it is," Naruto said. "And it's the coolest thing ever! They teach you a bunch of stuff, and, like, we even compete in the competitions sometimes."

"It's a lot of work, though," Chouji said. "I'd prefer to join the food club."

Kankuro laughed. "First a fight club, now a food club?"

"It's actually two clubs," Shikamaru corrected. "Kurenai-sensei is the advisor for both the gardening club and the cooking club. They usually just do things together, and we call them the food club. A lot of the clubs are like that since some of them are small."

"Like the shogi club," said Naruto. "Isn't that combined with the board game club?"

"Why do you call them clubs if they're also a class?" Gaara asked. "Why not separate classes from clubs?"

"Tsunade-sama wanted to try something different when she became principal of Konoha High a few years back," Shikamaru said. "She says it's to encourage creativity or something. The students seem to prefer it this way, anyways. There's more options like this, since you can just create your own club and make sure you have a teacher who'll advise it and hand out grades."

Gaara didn't exactly see the point. Perhaps Kankuro was right: Konoha High was lacking compared to Suna High. Gaara was used to taking eight classes a day, and then clubs after school, followed by private tutoring with Baki. Though, Gaara wondered, maybe he had to take so many courses because he was the Kazekage's son, and the one expected to be the next Kazekage; the Kazekage had to be well-educated, after all.

.

The five boys arrived at the gym, where the fight club was held daily. There was a crowd of people around two teachers: Guy and Kakashi.

"Hey, isn't that Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, wide-eyed. "He can fight?"

Gaara kept quiet, watching from a distance. It wasn't in his place to inform Naruto of Kakashi's ANBU background.

Guy and Kakashi were currently having a friendly bout, demonstrating some simple skills and stances to the gathered students. Hyuuga Neji was standing near them, with a clipboard in his hand—no doubt a sign-up sheet. Naruto and Kankuro rushed forward, eager to see the fight, and Gaara followed after them.

As Gaara drew near, a boy wearing a green jumpsuit suddenly appeared in his path, crashing into him. Gaara fell onto the floor, the wind knocked out of him. He reacted instinctively, pulling out his gun without thinking. To Gaara's surprise, the other boy skillfully knocked it out of his hands and the gun went flying in Kankuro's direction, who had turned around when he had heard the noise of Gaara falling.

"Gaara, don't— ," Kankuro shouted but was too late. Gaara threw a punch at the green jumpsuit boy, who merely countered it with his hand.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at him, throwing another punch, and then a kick, both of which were deflected. The boy was no ordinary student if he could block all of Gaara's attacks; he had to be an assassin in disguise, sent here by his father's enemies to kill him. They were always trying to kill or kidnap him. Every single day for as long as he could remember, even while he was at school. Suna Junior High's security wasn't bad, but the assassins still found their way in sometimes, and it was at times like this Gaara hated being the Kazekage's son and heir. With a growl, Gaara took out his second pistol, aimed it, locked it—

"That's enough!"

A man was suddenly in front of him, wearing the same clothing as Gaara's assaulter. He was using his body to block the boy from Gaara's view, and Gaara guessed he was an accomplice. He re-aimed the gun, this time at the man—

"Put the gun down, Gaara-kun," Kakashi said, putting a hand on the gun.

"Gaara, please calm down," Kankuro begged his younger brother desperately. "I'm sure it was an accident. I don't think he was trying to kidnap you or anything."

Gaara lowered his hand. He blinked, puzzled for a moment, before he remembered where he was. He was in Konoha, not Suna. There was a crowd of students staring at him, most of them having expressions of horror and fear.

The boy who Gaara had almost injured was probably one of the members of the fight club. He dimly remembered him as Rock Lee from his second period math class.

"What's the meaning of this?" Guy demanded, forcefully yanking the remaining gun out of Gaara's hand. Gaara made no resistance and let Guy restrain his hands.

"Guy, I'm sure it was an accident," Kakashi reassured his fellow teacher, who looked as if he was going to murder Gaara on the spot.

"An accident? How is bringing a gun to school an accident?" Guy accused. "And not only one, he brought two of them!"

Kakashi whispered something in Guy's ear, and Gaara caught the words "Kazekage", "son", "heir", and "assassination attempt".

Guy calmed down but remained glaring at the red-haired boy. "Let's have a nice talk with the principal, Gaara."

Gaara nodded, saying nothing.

"Kankuro, you come, too, and give me the other gun," Kakashi said and Gaara's brother hastily handed the gun over to him.

The two brothers followed the adults to the principal's office. As he walked, Gaara felt the many eyes of the Konoha High students on him, and he grew angry. It was just like Suna Junior High all over again. The same scared expressions, the same anxious voices, the same judging eyes. What did they know about being the Kazekage's son and heir? What did they know about having to grow up with the uncertainty of living the next day? What did they know about what it was like to struggle to survive?

One thing was for sure, though. Gaara had made a mistake, and his father would hear about it soon.