Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
Beta'd by ImperfectSnow
The moment of truth.
Naruto sat impatiently at his desk while Kurenai-sensei passed out the Math test. She made the students sit in every other seat during exams.
The blonde student squirmed in his seat. Now it was time to see how much Gaara's tutoring has helped him. Or rather, how much he retained from being around his gorgeous tutor. The thought of making Gaara proud motivated him even more to do well.
The ruby-eyed woman placed a blank test on Naruto's desk. He had about fifty minutes to complete twenty problems. He picked up his pencil and took a deep breath.
Here goes nothing...
"Dude, so what happened last night?"
The Dead-Lasts (plus Hinata) were all huddled around Naruto at the lunch table in the cafeteria. They sat inside because it had been raining for most of the day. Naruto blushed at Kiba's question.
"Um, well he helped me study," the blonde freshman mumbled, embarrassed.
Choji poked his arm, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "Is that all you did?"
Naruto nodded, "Then he invited me to stay for dinner and had me driven home."
"Oh, he's quite the gentlemen isn't he?" The dog lover asked teasingly.
"He's really nice!" The blonde chimed with a grin.
"So you gonna make a move or what?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto shook his head sadly.
"I don't even know if he likes me. Gaara is really hard to read. I don't want to fuck it up by making a move then I find out he's not gay. I'm grateful he's even my tutor!" The blonde whined.
"P-perhaps you should wait for Senpai to make the first move?" Hinata suggested. She glanced at Kiba as she said this.
The rest of the group agreed. "You should play hard to get or something. Or maybe just flirt with him a lot. He's bound to notice and make a move, right?" Shino asked.
"Hard-to-get girls are so fucking annoying! Just be, like, obvious without being obvious," Kiba said, taking a bite out of his chicken leg.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the dog lover. "What I think Kiba means is to be subtle about your feelings. Unless Senpai is a complete idiot, he'll get the hint."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Naruto groaned and covered his face with his hands, "You guys make it sound so easy!"
Shikamaru snorted. "Who says love is easy? It's too troublesome, that's what it is." He shook his head tiredly.
Naruto looked forward to Study Hall so he could tell Gaara all about his test. He was positive he did really well. He only got stuck on a couple of problems, but his tutor told him to answer them the best he could instead of not answering.
When he entered the library, he saw Gaara sitting at a desk with an open book in front of him. Leaning against the table was Hyuuga Neji, smirking smugly as he chatted-up the redhead. There was an ever-so-slight smirk on Gaara's face as he listened to the pale-eyed student.
The sight of the two upperclassmen talking made Naruto uneasy, almost jealous. Gaara was popular, but seemed unaffiliated with the big cliques in school. Naruto couldn't even recall seeing him with anyone but his siblings, although he seemed friendly with Sai and Neji.
Naruto took a seat at a table behind Gaara. They didn't seem to notice him, which was disappointing.
"So, you should really come out with us to Sharingan tomorrow night," Neji was saying.
Sharingan was one of Konoha's hottest nightclubs, which was owned by Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. It was supposedly hard to get into, which made it even more exclusive.
"Sasuke said he's getting a private room with bottle service. It'll be fun. Plus it's been awhile," Neji said, stroking Gaara's hand. His hand lingered for a bit before the redhead moved his hand away.
"Indeed. I might stop by," Gaara said vaguely.
"Oh, come on, Gaara. I know you; you'll most likely not stop by. Look, just come with me for a few hours, and if you don't like it we can go somewhere else," Neji replied. The 'we' seemed to imply just him and Gaara.
The redhead leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "I'm surprised you're even going. If I remember correctly, you were never much of a party person."
The Hyuuga shrugged, "Sasuke is always bugging me to come out, so I figure, 'why not?', you know? It's quite fun."
Gaara narrowed his eyes at him, not quite convinced. "It seems you've changed since last year."
Neji grinned, flashing pearly white teeth, "Change can be a good thing. But, I assure you that certain...things about me are the same."
The Sabaku raised his pale eyebrows at that.
The brunet inclined his head, "So, will I be seeing you tonight? We're going at ten."
"I suppose I can stop by for a little while," Gaara conceded.
"Good. See you later, Gaara."
The redhead nodded, "Yes, I will see you later."
Neji glanced at Naruto briefly before walking past him. The blonde frowned, watching the Hyuuga leave the library.
"Naruto."
His attention quickly turned back to Gaara, who had turned his seat around to look at him. Naruto smiled, "Hiya, Gaara!"
The redheaded upperclassman moved into the seat across from the blonde freshman.
"So, how was your test?" He asked.
"Good! I think I did good! Maybe I can get an eighty this time!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He described to Gaara the test and which problems he had trouble with. Gaara leaned forward in his chair, listening intently.
"It does sound like you did well. But I had confidence that you would anyway," the redhead said, brimming with confidence. "What section will you be learning next?"
Naruto shrugged, but pulled out his Math syllabus out of his binder, "Uh, linear equations?"
Gaara nodded in acknowledgement, "I will help you with that."
"Seriously? You still want to tutor me?" Naruto asked.
The redhead furrowed his brow, "Do you still require one?"
The blonde nodded vigorously.
"Then I will continue to tutor you."
Naruto felt his heart swell with happiness. It seemed as if Gaara genuinely wanted to help him. He wondered if this meant they could become closer friends.
"When you get your test back tomorrow, I will treat you to dinner, no matter what the score," Gaara declared.
Naruto's jaw nearly dropped, "Huh? Gaara you don't have to do that!"
"Yes, I am aware of that, but I want to reward you for your hard work. You deserve it,"
The freshman beamed, "Wow, Gaara! That's...so nice of you. I don't know what to say," the blonde admitted, blushing.
Gaara smirked at the boy's reaction, "You can start by saying yes." Naruto grinned.
"Okay!"
Naruto nearly sang and danced through the halls the next day, holding his Math test in the air for all to see.
He had scored a seventy-nine! Well, it was actually a 78.75, but that rounded up to a seventy-nine, which was almost an eighty! Kurenai-sensei even wrote 'Nice Improvement!' on his test. Last time he had scored a sixty-five and she had written 'See Me'.
The best part would be showing Gaara. The redhead was sitting on the windowsill, looking out at the courtyard below. Naruto eagerly bounced over to him and proudly held out his exam. His tutor took it and looked it over. The blonde freshman anxiously waited for his reply.
Gaara impassively flipped through the test, taking a few moments to peer at the questions Naruto got wrong.
Then he gave the blonde a very warm smile.
Oh my God. It was the first time Naruto had seen such a genuine expression of happiness on Gaara's face. The sight brought Naruto pure joy, knowing he was capable of bringing out such an emotion in his normally stoic tutor.
"Great job, Naruto. You did very well," the redhead complimented.
Naruto beamed, "It's all thanks to you! Really, if it wasn't for you I would have failed!" He threw his arms around Gaara for a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He chanted.
The blonde's exuberance was drawing the attention of the students sitting nearby. Ino and Sakura were watching and whispering, no doubt planting the seeds of gossip for the rest of the school. Neji narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the sight of Naruto's public display of affection towards the redheaded upperclassman.
Gaara gave Naruto a slow pat on the back. The blonde reluctantly pulled away. He could still smell the lingering scent of his crush on his uniform.
"I am going to fulfill my promise to reward you with dinner. We can go anywhere you'd like," the redhead said.
"I don't know too many places in the city, but I'm down for anywhere that has good ramen!" Naruto exclaimed.
His tutor smirked and shook his head. "Alright. I know a place. We will meet after school," he all but commanded.
Naruto nearly 'whooped' in joy, "I'm really excited!"
Gaara swung his legs off the window sill so Naruto could sit beside him. The blonde eagerly took the offered spot next to his redheaded crush. The more he hung out with Gaara, the bigger his crush became. He liked that the upperclassman wasn't concerned with social status like everyone else in the school was. He was genuine in his feelings and it made Naruto happy that he was actually invested in improving his Math grades. He forgot what it was like to be with someone who cared for him.
The bell rang, signaling the end of his time with Gaara until after school. He waved goodbye to the redhead as he parted ways with him at the library entrance. He turned to go to his next class.
"Uzumaki," a cold voice called.
Said student turned around to find Neji standing behind him. The pale-eyed upperclassman did not hold a friendly expression.
"Uh, hi there, Hyuuga-senpai. What can I do for ya?" Naruto asked nervously. He did not like the vibes he was getting from him.
"I've noticed that you've been spending an awful lot of time with Gaara lately," Neji said.
The blonde nodded, "Yeah, he's been tutoring me,"
The Hyuuga stepped closer, "That may be so, but you should remember your place, freshman."
"M-my place?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Neji glared at him, "Sabaku is out of your league, Uzumaki. So keep your lower-class hands off him, understand?"
Naruto felt like he was just slapped in the face. This is what he hated most about the kids in the school. He was pretty confident in general, but it was pretentious bastards like Neji that made him feel ashamed and unworthy. Now he was pissed off. The blonde grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "Gaara is my friend," he growled.
The brunet gave him a smug smirk, "Keep telling yourself that."
The blonde had to restrain himself from punching the bastard. Besides, he really didn't have time for this; he had to get to class.
"Fuck off, Hyuuga. I'm not gonna take this crap from you," he spat. He went to turn away but Neji grabbed his arm with a vice-like grip. Naruto hissed in pain and surprise.
"Keep away from Gaara or else Hidan will be the last of your worries," the Hyuuga said menancingly. He promptly let go of Naruto's and turned away.
"Asshole!" The blonde freshmen called after the upperclassman. He wasn't going to let Neji get in the way of his friendship with Gaara.
However, he was slightly nervous because this was the second time he had been threatened by an upperclassman. In the world of the Hidden Leaf Academy, people were just toys for the rich and privledged. There was was no such thing as an empty threat from someone who had all the connections in the world to follow through.
Naruto waited behind a tall tree in front of the school. The students happily exited the building to start their weekends. The blonde peered from behind, the open door in his line of sight. He didn't really want to run into Neji again because he was probably going to sock that pale-eyed bastard right in his pretty boy face. His confrontation with the Hyuuga really put him into a foul mood.
The underclassman spotted Gaara and Kankuro walking out the doors. Naruto called out to the redhead, whose searching gaze found him by the tree. Gaara strode over to him.
"What are you doing?" He asked, mildy confused.
Naruto looked around before smiling, "Waiting for you!"
His Senpai narrowed his eyes at him. "Come, my driver will take us there," he said, and turned to walk towards his family's black SUV. Naruto shrugged and followed.
"Hey, Sabaku-senpai!" The blonde chirped as he sat across from Kankuro. The upperclassman gave Naruto a quick wave before putting on his headphones.
"Where's Temari?" Gaara asked as the car pulled away.
"She said she's staying after school for something," his brother replied.
The youngest Sabaku leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. Naruto fidgeted with his tie, "So, uh, where are we going?"
Gaara smirked at him, "You'll see,"
Naruto frowned, "You're not taking me to someplace fancy are you?"
"You'll see."
"Aw, c'mon! At least give me a hint!" The blonde pleaded.
"There will be ramen."
Naruto pumped his fist in the air in excitement. "Awesome!" This made his normally stoic tutor snort in amusement - quietly, of course.
After 20 minutes, the SUV pulled up in front of a small Japanese restaurant by the name of Oh! Taisho. Naruto stared at establishment in curiosity while Gaara told his driver when to come pick them up. Then the two students went in.
The restaurant was relatively small, filled with the noisy dinner crowd. There was tables up in front next to the bar and additional seating in the back. Gaara and Naruto hung up their blazers before taking seats by the sushi bar. The waitress left them their menus.
"Order whatever you like," Gaara said.
Naruto opened the menu and sure enough there was a whole page of ramen to order. There were so many delicious options that he couldn't decide! Just when he was about to decide, he felt Gaara lean in close to his left side. A shiver ran down his spine when he felt the redhead's warm breath in his ear.
"Would you like an appetizer? I hear the yakitori is quite good," he murmured.
The blonde freshman could barely process what his crush was saying. He nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. Gaara used his hand to turn the page to the yakitori menu. Naruto felt his heart leap when Gaara's wrist brushed against his hand.
"Pick however many you want," the warm voice whispered in his ear.
Naruto was so flustered that he could barely read the menu. It was a wonder how he concentrated during their tutoring sessions.
The waitress arrived to take their orders. The blushing blonde nearly forgot what he wanted because he was too busy thinking about Gaara's uncanny ability to sound seductive even when he was ordering food. Naruto ordered ramen that had pork and hard-boiled in egg it, a beef yakitori, and a bacon-wrapped scallop yakitori. Gaara ordered hokke with rice, salad, miso soup, scallop and asparagus yakitori, and two onigiri for himself and Naruto.
"G-Gaara, thanks a lot for all this. You really didn't have to take me out to dinner just cause I passed my test. A pat on the back would have been okay," the blonde student said.
Gaara took a sip of his water. "I know I didn't have to. I'm doing it because I want to. You work very hard and should be acknowledged for it," he stated, matter-of-factly.
Naruto blushed. He didn't really have anyone in his life that acknowledged how hard he worked to make it on his own, save for his uncle. It was nice that someone else noticed.
"Heh, thanks. Do you do this with all the people you tutor?" He asked jokingly.
The waitress served them their yakitori. Gaara picked up one and inspected it, "I don't tutor anyone else." he stated.
Naruto nearly choked on his beef in shock, "Y-you don't?"
The junior shook his head. "You are the only one," he said before taking a bite of a scallop.
"I'm the only one? How come?"
Gaara shrugged.
Wow...It was a even huge shock to know that he was the only person Gaara tutored! It did make sense since Gaara wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and he only spoke to people when it was absolutely necessary. It made the blonde freshman feel even more special knowing that his crush made him an exception. But why?
The waitress served them their main dishes with the onigiri. Naruto happily dug into his ramen, which was absolutely delicious. Not better than Ichiraku's, of course, but pretty damn good nonetheless. Gaara noticed how much Naruto enjoyed his meal and smirked.
When they had finished their meal, Gaara insisted he pay the check. Naruto learned not to argue with his Senpai because he was going to lose anyway since the redhead did as he pleased. They left the restaurant and waited outside for the car to pick them up. It was 5:00 pm and everyone was rushing home for the weekend.
"So, uh, what are your plans for the weekend, Gaara?" Naruto asked.
Gaara, who was staring intently at a parked red car across the street, broke his gaze to look at him. "Tonight I'm going out with Neji somewhere. Other than that, I have no plans," the Sabaku said.
Naruto tried his best to hide his scowl at the sound of the Hyuuga's name. "Neji, huh. I didn't think you were the 'going out' type. Are you, uh, good friends with him?" He asked with a forced calm.
"No, I don't go out much. Neji is just an old friend," the redheaded junior said.
Naruto had an odd feeling that there was more to their relationship than that. Why else would Neji threaten him? Perhaps they had something in the past because Naruto was pretty sure Gaara was single, but he didn't talk about his personal life at all. It was obvious that the Hyuuga still had some feelings for his tutor. Great, now they're going out to one of the hottest clubs where they'll probably get drunk and hook up in a dark corner somewhere. Naruto was in a foul mood again.
Gaara noticed the blonde's sour expression, but before he could inquire, his car arrived. The two students got in.
"You can just drop me off at the bus stop, Gaara," Naruto mummbled. The redhead raised his almost non-existent eyebrows.
"I can just have you driven home," he said.
The blonde gave him a strained smile, "No, no! That's okay. You need time to get ready for your night out. I'll be fine, really!" He replied.
Gaara narrowed his eyes, "Naruto..."
"Really, Gaara. You've already done so much today. I don't want to inconvenience you any more," the blonde said, looking at his lap instead of into his tutor's sea-foam green eyes.
The redhead frowned, "You don't inconvenience me."
"Even so, I'll take the bus."
They didn't say anything after that. Naruto felt like an idiot. Honestly, he had no reason to get so worked up, it's not like he and Gaara were dating. They were friends - that's all.
Despite that, Naruto still felt hurt in a way. He wasn't necessarily mad at Gaara, but he was mad at Neji. Knowing what a bastard that upper-class pretty boy was, he would definitely try to make a move on the redhead. Who wouldn't fall for Hyuuga Neji? He was gorgeous, intelligent, and wealthy. Naruto couldn't even compete with him.
"We're near the school. Where do you catch your bus?" Gaara asked.
"The bus stop is on Centre Street."
The redhead tapped the window separating them from the driver to inform him where to drop Naruto off. The blonde glanced at the junior as he leaned back into his seat. His green eyes studied him intensely. He looked like he wanted to say something. Naruto blushed.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked timidly. That was the last thing he wanted, the perfect way to ruin his entire day.
Gaara frowned, "No, not at all." Slightly baffled, he sighed quietly, "I just wished you'd accept what I have to offer. I want to help you in every way possible."
Naruto was thrown off by his answer. It's not what he expected to hear. The answer was very straightforward, but at the same time he did not understand. What did Gaara want to offer him? He felt silly for not being accustomed to such behavior.
The SUV slowed to a crawl right in front of the bus stop. Naruto reluctantly unbuckled his seatbelt, "Thank you, Gaara. I really enjoyed our dinner," he said.
Gaara nodded slowly, "Me too...Good night, then."
The chauffeur opened the door. As Naruto was stepping out, he felt a hand tug on his arm. He looked over to see the redhead staring him with a strange look of...longing? No, that couldn't be. He did look like he had something to say. He frowned again and squeezed the blonde's arm.
"Text me when you make it home," he said quietly.
Naruto's heart nearly stopped. All he could was nod before getting out of the car. Gaara's face was the last thing he saw before the chauffeur shut the door. Even through the black-tinted windows he could feel the redhead's piercing gaze as the car pulled away.
The blonde sighed as he sat down on the metal bench. He checked the time on his phone before pulling out a bus schedule. Perfect timing, the bus should be here any minute.
Down the street from where Naruto is sitting, a red car slowly turns and parks at the corner. The driver has a direct view of the oblivious blonde student.
The driver pulls out a notepad filled with illegible handwriting. They scribble an asterisk right next to the sentence: Hidden Leaf Academy, 8 am - 2:30 pm.
Beneath that, they write:
Centre Street bus stop.
The bus turns left onto the street. They watch Naruto get on the bus before taking the car out of park and following.
It was already midnight.
Naruto couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He lay on his bare back staring up at the ceiling, his mind wandering.
All he could think about was Gaara. He wondered if the redhead really did got out to Club Sharingan with Neji. He tried to picture them in their fancy VIP room with all the other rich underage kids drinking their expensive bottles of liquor. It didn't seem like Gaara's scene at all. What if he and Neji left together?
Up until the other day, Naruto didn't question Gaara's sexuality. Seeing the way Neji flirted with his tutor and his tutor neither blowing him off nor encouraging him, made the blonde think otherwise. Plus, it looked they had something going on. Perhaps they hooked up once?
Naruto groaned and flipped on his side. He was no Hyuuga Neji. The upperclassman was confident and went right after what he wanted. The blonde, however, had no experience in flirting. Gaara was his first real crush. Damn! Why does this have to be so complicated? He didn't even have anyone to talk to. His friends had no experience with girls and he shuddered to think the kind of advice he would get from his pervy uncle.
The blonde sighed and looked at his cellphone. Several times he contemplated texting Gaara to see what he was up to, but thought better of it. He didn't even know if they were at that level of friendship where he could just randomly text him. Naruto put his phone down so he couldn't see the display and attempted to fall asleep again.
That was when he heard a noise.
He sat up, peering in the darkness of his bedroom. It sounded like faint rattling...from outside his room. Naruto carefully got out if bed and crept to his door. He turned the knob and slowly pulled it ajar.
The sound slightly increased in volume. The rattling was the sound of his front door.
Holy shit. Someone was trying to break in!
Naruto hurried into his kitchen to grab a knife before tiptoeing to his front door. Whoever was on the other side was trying to turn the door knob. There was also a scraping noise.
Naruto scowled. It sounded like they were trying to get the door to open by using a card to force it. Not particularly looking forward to potentially beating the shit out of someone, Naruto gripped the doorknob and twisted it the opposite direction.
The door knob stopped.
The blonde waited for the intruder's next move. It was quiet for a few moments before he heard the sound of running footsteps. With a sigh of relief, Naruto unlocked his top chain lock then his door knob. When he opened the door there was no one in the hallway. He inspected his door - nothing was broken.
Naruto closed and locked up his door. He felt a little uneasy. Break-ins were not too common. There was no security, but the door that lead into the building was locked at all times. However, that didn't mean the intruder couldn't have picked that lock too.
He put the knife on his kitchen table before going into his room and locking the door. He'll have to tell his landlord, even though there wasn't much he could do. If that jackass was stupid enough to come back then he would be ready for him.
The next day Naruto had work at Ichiraku's from 11:00 to 6:00 pm. The restaurant was busier on the weekends so he was not short of work.
The day had not started too well from him. After the almost-break-in Naruto couldn't fall asleep. Then he had to talk to his landlord, who was conveniently not home, so he left a note. Not much he could do, anyway.
During his break, Naruto sat in a back room, enjoying his bowl of free ramen. He fished out his cellphone from his jeans pocket. Two missed calls. One from Jiraiya and one from Gaara.
Holy shit, Gaara called me this morning!
Naruto frantically pressed the CALL button. He held his breath and crossed his fingers as the phone rang. He had missed the call an hour ago; he hoped that something didn't change that prevented Gaara from answering the phone.
"Hello, Naruto," Gaara's impassive voice said.
The blonde couldn't help the ridiculous grin that came across his face. In that moment he forgot everything and just concentrated on the soothing sound of his tutor's voice.
"Hiya, Gaara! Sorry I missed your call earlier; I'm on break now at work. How ya doin'?" he asked cheerfully.
"I am good. I wanted to know...if you wanted to hang out today," the redhead said before adding, "after work, I suppose."
Naruto smiled with his mouth wide open. Holy shit! Gaara wants to hang out with me and not do school work!
"YES! Uh, I mean, yes, I would love to hang out with you!" The blonde blurted, "I have work until six. Oh, but I also have to go grocery shopping...Never mind, what do you want to do?"
"I'll come with you."
Naruto blinked, "What?"
"I said, I'll come with you grocery shopping," Gaara stated simply.
Holy shit! "Oh, no! I can just do it tomorrow-"
"No," the redhead cut him off. "I will come with you. Besides, I want to see where you live," he said, the hint of a smile in his voice.
Holy shit! Gaara wants to visit me? He wants to see where I live?
Naruto felt nervous. His place was a closet compared to the redhead's house. He wondered how his crush would react if he discovered that he wasn't rich.
"O-okay. That sounds great!" He said nervously.
"Good. Where do you work?"
"Ichiraku's Ramen. It's on Pennywood Avenue."
"I will see you at six, then," Gaara replied.
Naruto couldn't help but smile at the sound of that. "Yeah! See you then!"
"Bye, Naruto," the redhead murmured.
"Bye!" Naruto hung up and let out a girly squeal of excitement. He stood up, nearly knocking over his half-eaten bowl of ramen, and danced around the room. It seemed whenever he was having a bad day, Gaara would swoop in and make it all better. It was 4:00 pm right now, signaling the end of his break. Two hours until the end of his shift - which meant two hours until he saw Gaara.
The last two hours seem to drag by despite the blonde freshmen's eagerness. He was so antsy that his manager told him to calm down before he had a heart attack. Gaara had that kind of effect on him.
At 6:00 exactly Naruto clocked out and bolted out of the restaurant. Gaara was standing outside, leaning against a shiny, red BMW. The redhead wore black skinny jeans, Doc Martens, a cashmere V-neck sweater, and a hooded leather jacket. Naruto's jaw dropped. He looked so fucking sexy. Top that with his black-lined green eyes and red kanji tattoo and you got the sexiest redhead to ever grace this Earth. Naruto felt dingy in comparison, clad in his baggy blue jeans that were one size too big and orange t-shirt that said, "Banzai!" in big letters.
Gaara smirked and opened the passenger door. "After you," he said with a bow. Naruto laughed and got in.
The passenger door closed and seconds later the redhead was behind the wheel. He started the car and signaled to pull to out of his parking spot.
"Sweet ride, Gaara," Naruto said, beyond impressed.
"Thank you," Gaara replied, still smirking.
The blonde freshman watched as his tutor focused on driving. How the hell does this guy make even driving look sexy? Naruto didn't realize he was staring until Gaara glanced at him. He blushed and shifted his gaze to his lap.
"I passed a supermarket on my way here. Shall we go there?" His tutor asked.
"Uh, yeah. Make a U-Turn." He pretended not to look at Gaara's fine hands make the maneuver.
"I'm not surprised you work at a ramen restaurant. How was it today?"
Naruto grinned, "It was good! Busy, but good. I couldn't wait to leave though."
Gaara raised a thin eyebrow in curiosity, "Why's that?"
Cause I couldn't wait to see you, Naruto thought. That would have been an awkward statement to say to his secret crush. He tried a more subtle statement:
"'Cause, you know, ah, I-I was looking forward to hanging out with you!"
Real smooth delivery, Naruto! The blonde screamed in his head.
Gaara's lips quirked with a slight smile, "I was looking forward to hanging out with you as well."
"Really?"
The redhead made a left turn into the parking lot of the grocery store, "Yes. I enjoy your company, Naruto," he said seriously.
The freshmen could feel the warm blush creep on his cheeks. He never knew one simple statement could make him feel so happy. It gave him a small hope that his crush could potentially return his feelings.
Gaara parked the car and cut the engine. The two boys got out to start shopping.
Naruto happily strolled through the aisles of the store, choosing the cheapest and on sale food items. Most the the time he was too lazy to cook, so that's when ramen came in. He also picked out apples, oranges, bread, milk and peanut butter. He couldn't think of what else he needed.
Gaara looked at Naruto's cart in disapproval, "Is this all you're getting?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, I don't really have enough money or space for more - not to mention, I don't really eat that much besides ramen," he chuckled sheepishly.
The redhead narrowed his eyes before grabbing the cart and walking away. Naruto hurried after him, "Hey! Where are you going?"
Gaara said nothing as he added and replaced the food the blonde student had chosen. He picked up a pack of edamame after apparently deciding it was his preferred brand and placed it next to Naruto's pile of instant ramen. The Sabaku continued in this way until was half-full of high-quality health food that he had never even thought about buying due to its cost. Naruto sighed when he realized that, on top of everything, none of the items were on sale.
When the redhead tried to get rid of the ramen cups, the blonde quickly stopped him. "You do not need this much ramen," Gaara said.
"Yeah, but the ramen is on sale! You gotta take advantage of these thngs! Trust me," Naruto insisted.
His tutor looked at him quizzically before nodding and pushing the cart away.
Naruto watched helplessly as the junior marched right up the the cashier to ring up their groceries. His jaw dropped at the grand total of $95.37. Gaara didn't even blink as he handed over his bank card.
"Gaara! This is too much! You don't have to pay-"
The redhead silenced the teen with a raise of his hand, "I want to buy these for you. It's my money and I can spend it how I please. Now, can you bag the groceries?" He asked.
Defeated, Naruto placed all the food in plastic bags while Gaara collected his card and the receipt. He helped him place the bags in the shopping cart.
"So, what should we make for dinner?" Gaara asked, smirking.
Naruto beamed.
I know I left you hanging there! Don't worry, it continues in the next chapter.
Reviews are nice :)
