"He clipped her wings so she couldn't fly
And she couldn't escape while she watched him die."
-Clairvaux
Naruto ended up being sent home at the recommendation of the school nurse. He had to practically grovel on his knees to stop them from calling the Harunos and promised the school nurse that he was totally fine to go home by himself. He barely remembered how he managed to get back, but he stole some soup from the kitchen and fell into bed, more exhausted than he'd ever felt in a long time.
He woke up the next day feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. Still, he didn't dare stay in the house, so he put on his uniform and dragged himself back to the nurse's office and begged her not to send him home.
"Who comes to school when they're practically dying?" she scowled, watching him settle into one of the beds. "You're a strange kid."
The school nurse was a scary lady called Tsunade, but her eyes had softened at Naruto's snot-covered expression and even gave him a warm cup of honey tea for his throat.
"It's just warmer here, that's all." Naruto murmured into his cup.
"Don't you have heating at your place?"
Naruto opened his mouth to reply when the office door slid open and a vaguely familiar head of jet-black appeared. His hand slipped with a clatter of the teacup and he fell into a hacking cough to cover up the fact that his cheeks were turning red.
"Uchiha," Tsunade sighed exasperatedly, handing Naruto a napkin. "What is it this time?"
"Headache."
"You're a shitty liar." Tsunade snorted but allowed him to slink into the empty bed at the corner of the room. "I'm kicking you out before lunch, you got that?"
"Hn." Was the only reply before the bed curtains swished close.
"Bastard." Tsunade rolled her eyes. "All done, blondie? Time for your medicine."
Naruto silently downed the colorful pills and didn't protest even as she physically manhandled him into the covers. He tried to keep his eyes from wandering constantly towards the closed curtains.
Why, he wondered, is my heart pounding like crazy?
"Granny," he began, and promptly got hit on the head. "Ow! What the hell? Who hits a patient?!"
"Who the hell are you calling 'granny?" She snapped. "Do you want to die?"
"What a violent nurse." Naruto groused. "You're supposed to be nurturing. Nur-tu-ring!"
"How about I nurture your face? With my fist?"
Naruto grumbled into sheets, losing the courage to ask about the boy on the other side of the room. Maybe it was for the best, Naruto thought as he settled into his bed. After all, people who looked like that don't associate with people like him.
With that thought, Naruto closed his eyes and fell asleep, trying not to think about what happened yesterday and the emotions it brought like the rough winds of autumn.
It was lunch time when Naruto woke up. Tsunade took one look at him, declared him fit and ordered him back to class.
"Hey there, blondie."
"My name," he sighed, dropping tiredly into his seat. "…is Naruto."
"I'm Inuzuka Kiba." The boy stuck out a large hand. "I'm sorry about what happened the other day."
Naruto was floored. He had never met someone who was so in-your-face. He never had anyone apologize to him so straightforwardly either. Despite himself, Naruto felt the air clearing between them as he took the offered hand.
"Wrong foot and all, eh?" Kiba grinned with a hint of sharp teeth. "I mean, I wasn't expecting the girl to go all psycho-mode on you. Bad blood?"
"Er—" Naruto watched Kiba swing himself up on the desk, the wood creaking in protest.
"Don't tell me—" Kiba raised a hand. "Ex-girlfriend?"
"Don't even joke about that." Naruto scowled, suppressing a shudder. "I don't know who she is. I've never seen her in my life."
"Yeah?" Kiba shrugged. "So! Let's be friends. What are your hobbies? Do you like dogs? What do you think of ninjas?"
Naruto had to work hard to keep up with Kiba's idiosyncratic speech pattern, but despite encountering a few awkward conversational blocks, they finally found a topic in which they began to discuss in earnest. In spite of everything, Naruto found that he liked Kiba.
"But man, what a rough first day for you." Kiba shook his head ruefully. "You even pissed off Gaara. Do you have a death wish?"
Naruto frowned.
"I'm not scared of him."
"You're an idiot." Kiba scoffed. "It's basic human preservation, to be scared of Gaara. He probably eats babies for breakfast."
Naruto rolled his eyes and spied the now-familiar dark head enter the classroom.
"Hey, who's that?" Naruto watched as the boy was immediately surrounded by half the girls in the class, including, Naruto noted, Sakura.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba rested his chin on a hand, gazing moodily at the commotion in front of the classroom. "Konoha's precious genius. Bah. So what if he's got a pretty face, he's a bag of dicks."
"Genius?"
"Yeah, he's the Captain of our soccer team. Mind, we've got the best team in the league and we've got a freshman for a captain." Kiba scowled. "I mean, he's pretty good, I'll give him that, but man, is he a piece of work. He thinks he can do whatever he wants and the thing is, he actually gets away with it. The fucker."
"Sounds like a douche." Naruto admitted, sneaking a glance at the boy who looked like he was bored to death. "He's in our class?"
"Oh yeah, you were probably too out of it to remember." Kiba snickered. "You threw up on his highness' shoes."
Naruto gaped at him.
"I did not!"
Kiba howled with laughter, clutching at his belly.
"Oh MAN, that shit was gold. You sort-of stumbled out of your seat, face-planted on his feet and went to town. It was crazy."
Naruto wanted to die of embarrassment.
"Did sensei bring me to the nurse's office?"
"Nope. Uchiha did. We all thought he was going to kill you and bury your body somewhere." Kiba wiped a tear from his eye and patted him on the shoulder. "Glad you lived, buddy."
Naruto covered his face and he decided, fervently, that he was never going to get within a ten-foot radius of Uchiha Sasuke. He'd rather die.
"Move."
Naruto glanced up as Gaara showed up, glaring at Kiba who had hopped off the desk so quickly, he nearly hit his head. The red-head looked as surly as ever, and Naruto realized with a frown that the boy had no eyebrows.
"Do you have like, two words in your vocabulary or something?"
Gaara ignored him. Naruto sighed and turned away, giving Kiba the stink eye (He was staring at Naruto like he had grown two heads) and started doodling on his notebook instead.
"Sabaku."
Naruto looked up so fast his neck hurt. Uchiha Sasuke was standing in front of them, staring down at Gaara. Naruto fought the curl of embarrassment creeping up his face, with every fiber of his being. Gaara on the other hand, did not even look up.
Naruto nudged him with a foot.
"You're being spoken to, douche bag."
Gaara gave him a filthy look before stiffly turning to the Uchiha. The dark-haired boy tossed his head in a careless fashion.
"You're in my seat. Move."
Naruto felt his jaw dropping. What the fuck even. What was it with these people and their seats?!
"I don't see your name on it. Captain." Gaara said coldly.
In spite of himself, Naruto couldn't stop the small snicker that escaped him. He quickly ducked his head as Uchiha's eyes flickered to him.
"I'll say it again. Get out of my seat. Right now."
Naruto snuck a look at Gaara's face, secretly alarmed at the level of malevolence an expression can convey. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with murder happening under his very nose.
"Why don't you shove your—"
Naruto stood up with a loud scrape of his chair. The two stopped to stare at him.
"You can have this seat. Geez!" Naruto spat at Sasuke, as he slung his bag over one shoulder. "Enjoy, motherfuckers."
Ears hot, Naruto dropped heavily beside a dumbfounded Kiba and resolutely kept his eyes forward. He was highly conscious of the slight movements of the dark-haired boy as he took the seat behind him. The scrape of the chair on the tiles. The creak of wood. The overwhelming tension radiating like a physical wave of discomfort.
"Close your mouth, Kiba." Naruto said stiffly just as the bell rang shrilly, announcing the end of lunch. The classroom regained some sense of normalcy as more students came shuffling into the room, chatting about mundane things.
"Blondie," Kiba shook his head, patting him on the shoulder. "You're fucking crazy man. And you're my new best friend."
Naruto paused, stunned into a helpless grin. Kiba may have not meant those words, but it still made him overwhelmingly happy to hear them. He'd never had a proper friend before.
"Believe it."
When Naruto opened his eyes, he immediately registered the familiar smell of a nurse's office. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, feeling the pull of every aching muscle and hurt. His senses were bogged down by the fever and his throat was on fire.
Oh. He fainted in class. On the first day too.
"This sucks." He croaked into the silence.
A rustling sound answered to his right and Naruto looked down by his bedside and saw a boy slouched in a chair; head tipped back and fast asleep. Naruto stared at the pale expanse of neck and the finely cut jaw.
Who…?
He watched the rise and fall of his chest for a few more moments before slowly turning to look up at the ceiling. He noticed the patch of cooling-gel on his forehead and the glass of water by the bedside table. A swell of unknown emotions rose like a tide from within him. For some reason, this strange boy had probably carried him to the nurse's office, stuck the gel to his forehead and stayed to keep him company.
Despite the chills that wracked his body and the pounding in his head, Naruto stared at the uninspiring ceiling, listening to the soft tinkle of wind chimes from the open window and the steady breathing of the boy by the bed.
And felt peace.
