"People think that I must be a very strange person.
This is not correct.
I have the heart of a small boy.
It is in a glass jar on my desk."
-Stephen King


"I didn't touch your stupid little lunchbox!"

"Liar! You stole it, you little thief! Everyone knows you steal food! I can't believe it! Do you even know how long it took to make it?!"

"I was upstairs, working on your stupid shelf the entire night!" Naruto yelled back. "Besides, I wouldn't eat anything you made even if I starved to death!"

Sakura let out a shriek of rage and seized the large steel pan from the stove and flung it at him. Naruto was too stunned to move away and it hit him across the cheek. He fell to his knees, the explosion of pain blindsiding him for a few moments. The kitchen door swung wildly as Sakura ran out, leaving him on the floor, ears ringing and breathless with pain.

She had always been prone to lashing out but lately, she had grown into the habit of throwing things at him. Honestly, Naruto had enough trouble avoiding the cook's knives; he didn't need another person joining the party!

"Fuck, this is going to bruise like hell." Naruto sighed, clutching at his cheek as he stood on shaky feet.

He heard the tell-tale slam of doors and the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway. He stuck out his tongue and stooped down to pick up his bag. Off to school it was.

Since the school was blessedly close by, he was able to walk there everyday and lessen his time in Sakura's presence to a bare minimum. After that disastrous first day, a week had gone by with relative normalcy, and Naruto had finally begun to relax. He found himself looking forward to school, where, despite being classmates with Sakura and butting heads with Gaara, he had friends who not only tolerated him, but… dare he say it… seemed to like him.

Kiba had taken the best-friend duty to heart and introduced him to his group of friends at the lunch table. They were an odd bunch, a mix of second and first years, but they had taken Naruto under their wing like it was perfectly normal. Naruto had never been happier.

He still had trouble keeping up with Kiba's pop-culture references, and Lee's over enthusiasm sometimes gave him headaches, but… they were good people. And they thought Naruto was funny and not strange at all (probably because they were much stranger to begin with). Shikamaru and Shino made up for the other two's loudness by being practically dead. Chouji… well, Chouji just ate a lot.

Naruto paused in his musings and blinked in confusion. He thought he saw… That had been a giant carp running past him…wasn't it?

He whipped around and stared at the disappearing tail with mystified alarm. Had he been hit that hard? Was this a concussion? As he approached the wrought iron gates of Konoha, Naruto realized that the school ground was unusually busy with students running around and pitching up tents. Naruto brightened as he spotted a familiar figure.

"Neji!"

The graceful figure turned to look at him. Naruto hesitated for a split second at the cold look on his face, but it soon melted into a more relaxed expression.

"Well. I see you've survived your first week, freshman."

Naruto grinned, screeching to at stop in front of him and punching him on the arm.

"I'll have you know I'm doing great. I even made friends."

"Congratulations." Neji grudgingly rubbed at his arm and then paused. "…what happened to your face?"

"Huh?" Naruto's hand shot up to his face and he was painfully reminded of this morning. "Oh. Uh, I fell."

Neji looked at him sternly. "Did you get into a fight? Was it another student at this school?" His eyes narrowed. "Sabaku Gaara's in your class, isn't he?"

"No!" Naruto cried, shaking a hand violently in denial. "I mean, yes, Gaara's in my class, but… god, no! Gaara has absolutely nothing to do with this, we don't even speak to each other. He doesn't even know I exist."

"He has a history."

"Even if we did get into a fight, I can hold my own." Naruto replied firmly. "I fell. End of story. Tell me why I saw a giant carp headed this way."

Neji tactfully dropped the topic.

"It's club-fair week. Haven't you been paying attention to your teachers?"

"New guy." Naruto pointed to himself. "What's a club fair?"

"Konoha dedicates a week for various clubs to sponsor events or productions, to attract new members for their choice of after-school activities." Neji nodded towards a booth. "That's the Drama club. They're very prestigious; they hold a production every year at the local theater. That one's the Baseball Club. Basketball Club. Archery. Art. Konoha has a lot to offer."

"Hmm." Naruto surveyed the grounds. "Are you in a club, Neji?"

"Of a sort. It's mandatory, or did your teacher forget to mention that, as well?"

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't really tell us much." Naruto mumbled, already worrying about how to adjust his workload at the house with the added problem of an extra-curricular activity.

"Ah," Neji sighed, as if he understood everything. "Kakashi-sensei is the type who won't share information unless being asked. I suggest next time you ask him questions. A lot of it."

"Do we really have to join one? Is there any way out of it?" Naruto pressed. "What if we don't have the time for that?"

"The school allots a specific time during school hours for official club activities. That is why it is mandatory." Neji shrugged. "If you are concerned about your valuable time, I suggest you pick a club that will not require you to invest in after-school hours."

Naruto was not convinced. "I guess."

A harassed looking boy appeared, waving a bunch of papers.

"Hyuuga, I need you to look at these."

Naruto immediately stepped back. "That's my cue to leave. Thanks for the info, Neji."

"Put some ice over that." Neji advised, already turning to the address the documents. "And don't get into fights."

"I didn't get into a fight!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder, sticking out his tongue. He didn't notice Kiba until he practically crashed into him. "Oof!"

"How the hell are you even in speaking terms with the Hyuuga?!" Kiba immediately rounded him in a headlock. "Do you make it a habit of attracting trouble, blondie?"

"Good morning to you, too." Naruto snapped, struggling out of his grip. "Ow, ow, ow. Get OFF me, jeez."

"What happened to your face?" Kiba blinked at him.

"I fell." Naruto replied shortly.

Kiba let out a howl of laughter. "I~diooot!"

"Fuck you!"

"You picking a fight, blondie? Huh?!"

"Bring it on, dog-breath!"

"Hey! The two idiot freshmen over there!" Neji snapped from where he was talking to a group of people. "Shut your mouths and get back to your classrooms!"

Naruto scowled, affronted.

"Who are you calling idio—?!" Kiba stuffed a large hand over his mouth and dragged him off the grounds.

"Ouch—you fucker—that hurt!" Naruto rubbed at his jaw. "What's the big idea?"

"I just saved your ass from getting suspended. You're welcome, you ungrateful shit." Kiba laughed as they moved inside the building. "You don't mouth off at the Student Council President. School rules."

"Who?" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. "Neji?"

"What, you didn't know?" Kiba looked at him funny. "So what the hell were you two talking about? The weather?"

"He… he's…"

A friend.

"He's a good person." He finished lamely instead.

"He's scary as shit, that's what." Kiba corrected, sliding into their classroom which was abuzz with excited chatter. "What's going on?"

Shikamaru was slouched in a corner, looking disgruntled.

"Some girl confessing to Uchiha again."

"Ah," Kiba threw his bag onto his desk. "So it begins."

"What?" Naruto tried not to sound too interested. "What's going on?"

"For reasons unknown, girls lose their shit over Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba sighed, as he dug a finger into his ear. "They fall into this...rabid trance. It's a disease."

"Cut it out." Shikamaru snapped as Kiba flicked off some earwax at him.

"So, they like him, and they confess to him, right? They get rejected, spectacularly, it's not even funny. It's a whole production. He's an asshole. And yet…" Kiba rolled his eyes. "They keep coming back. Like flies. Or rats."

"You're the asshole, Kiba." said Naruto.

"Anyway, it's always like this. Better get used to it." Kiba stretched. "Ahhh, damn it! That's why I didn't want to be classmates with Uchiha!"

"You're just bitter he dropped you from the soccer team." Shikamaru supplied.

"Shut up!" Kiba leapt to his feet. "That's not true!"

"So noisy." Someone muttered from the side.

They glanced up at Gaara who had just arrived, looking ready to commit mass murder. Naruto noticed the bags under his eyes were darker than usual.

"Good morning, Gaara." Naruto smiled sweetly. "What died in your cornflakes today?"

Gaara ignored him and moved to his desk, sitting stiffly and automatically moving to face the window.

"I keep telling you blondie," Kiba murmured. "Keep poking the bear and it will fucking rip your head off one day."

Naruto ignored him in favor of watching the Uchiha slink into the classroom, his usual blank expression on his face. There was no way the dark-haired boy didn't notice the hushed whispers and furtive looks. Naruto felt kind of bad for him. Although their situation was different, he had spent a whole lifetime blocking out unwanted attention. Somehow, he felt sympathetic.

"Sitting next to Sabaku was a tactical move on his part." Shikamaru suddenly spoke up. Naruto thought he had fallen asleep. "Nobody's brave enough to approach Uchiha now."

"Why is everyone so scared of Gaara anyway?!" Naruto cried exasperatedly.

"Oh, haven't you heard? He's famous around here, you know? The red-demon Gaara." Kiba lowered his voice conspiratorially. "They say… he killed his own mother."

Naruto's eyes widened and then narrowed.

"Bullshit."

"Like you know better, blondie." Kiba scoffed. "Look at him, man. He has psychopath killer written all over him."

Naruto gave a loud snort but obediently moved to his seat as Kakashi entered the room to start class. He snuck a look at Gaara before sinking to his seat, tapping his pencil in contemplation.

He couldn't tell Kiba without the risk of sounding stupid, but despite his violent appearance and the unmistakable aura of danger surrounding him, Gaara did not look like a murderer.

His eyes, Naruto decided. It's his eyes.

He would never admit it, even if he was tortured for a hundred years. He would take it to his grave. But Naruto felt a spark of recognition when he saw Gaara's eyes. They were an angry, deep, sea-green; the color of empty skies and pale sand and an island marooned in the depths of a stormy sea.