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Kankuro groaned when he heard he had a TUTOR of all things. The only reason he resisted pouting was that Gaara had a tutor, too, and he knew Gaara didn't need one. Apparently it was some stupid thing the school thought up so the eighth graders would have something to do.
The older newbie looked around the class. There were a fair amount of people from his homeroom in there. Hyuuga Hinata had the same Science class with him (the teacher was Morino Ibiki and he was SCARY). Haruno Sakura shared P.E. and Health with him (the P.E. teacher was Maito Gai and the Health teacher was Yuuhi Kurenai). He had History all by himself, but his teacher was Iruka-sensei, so that wasn't so bad; he also learned that Iruka-sensei was the school's counselor for more than half of the students. Japanese and English he shared with Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru.
He found it a little odd that he and Gaara didn't have any of their classes together. He hadn't even seen Gaara since homeroom. He had hoped he could see his little brother by lunch time, but no dice. Gaara hadn't been out of anyone's sights for two whole months. This was also the first time he'd been out of the house in two months. For some reason, Gaara wouldn't come out of his room and only Dad was allowed in.
Kankuro shrugged. Even if he didn't, there was always home.
"Uh, hello? Are you Kankuro?" asked a voice that Kankuro didn't recognize.
Kankuro blinked and realized that someone was standing in front of his desk. A girl with black hair (or was it dark brown hair?) tied up into buns atop her head stood there with one arm holding books and her hand on her hip.
"I'm Tenten. Are you Kankuro?" she asked, her voice ringing like a songbird's.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Kankuro. Why?"
"Then I'm your tutor. And it's the end of school. Unless you want to be mistaken as the janitor, I suggest you start getting ready to leave. Your sister's waiting for you in the front of the school."
"Uh, thanks," Kankuro said, turning red and picking up his bag. "By the way, have you seen my brother? He's red-headed and seems to be the only Goth in this entire school."
"Oh, him? My friend, Lee, dragged him off somewhere. Lee's his tutor. And he's probably not, but most of us aren't allowed to dress up like that. For some reason, Tsuande-sensei made him an exception to the dress code. Same goes for you and your sister, actually. Most of us aren't allowed to wear torn up jeans to school," Tenten said matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Sorry about that. Almost all the stuff I wear has holes in it, and it's not even because I can't afford better clothes."
"Believe it or not, here in Konohagakure, people actually PAY for jeans that are ALREADY torn up."
"What! Do you know what I'd give to have jeans that wouldn't end up ripped to shreds a week later?"
"No, but by the sound of it, it would be a lot. Ah, there's Temari-chan. Hey! Temari-chan! Over here!"
"Hey, Tenten-chan! Lee-kun said he'd meet us at my house since you and he are tutoring my brothers and all!" Temari replied.
"What does Uzumaki-kun feel about that?" Tenten asked, now closer to Temari and Naruto.
"I'm cool with it. And just call me Naruto. But are you really related to that red-head? I'd never be able to tell, and not just because of the hair," Naruto said, arms behind his head. "How come you're so much nicer than him, Temari-chan?"
Temari smiled sadly and Kankuro kept his eyes an ant on the ground.
"He wasn't always like that. It's a recent change actually. We don't know what caused it," Temari explained. "Anyway, let's get a move on. I'm kinda hungry, are you guys?"
"Yeah!"
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Lee gaped at the house. It was HUGE! It was almost as big as the Hyuuga mansion! Gaara pulled out the house key and unlocked the door. He didn't look back to see if Lee was still following him.
"This is where you live?" Lee asked, walking behind Gaara into the house.
The red-head nodded and walked into the kitchen. The kitchen resembled an Italian restaurant's kitchen. The floor was tiled with marble; the countertops were made of a dark green marble; the cutting boards were made from mahogany wood, the knives were custom-made and the sink looked expensive.
Gaara sat down at the table that stood in the middle of the large kitchen. He took out his History book and opened it. He looked expectantly at Lee who was still staring at the room in awe.
"Are we going to study or what?" Gaara said in a raspy voice after a full minute.
Lee blinked a few times before the question settled in his brain.
"Right! Yes! I'm sorry, I've just never stepped into a place like this! Neji-kun has a similar house, but I'm never allowed in."
Gaara merely grunted at Lee's excuse and looked at his book. Lee pulled out several text books and laid them out on the table.
"Which do you want to study first? History, Science, Algebra, English, or Japanese?"
Gaara didn't say anything; he just pointed at the Japanese text book, which happened to be an exact copy to what Gaara was currently reading. Lee chuckled nervously and opened his book.
They studied for forty-five minutes before Temari, Tenten, Kankuro, and Naruto arrived.
Temari had opened the door.
"We're home, Gaara-nii-chan! You and Lee get home alright?" Temari shouted clearly.
"Hello, Temari-chan!" Lee called. "Your little brother doesn't speak much!"
"Yeah, I know. It's actually gotten worse these past couple of months," Temari answered as she walked into the kitchen, Naruto, Tenten, and Kankuro in tow.
Naruto and Gaara stared at each other for a while. Gaara blinked slowly once then scowled. Naruto chose to be more vocal about it.
"Why does the universe want us to be in the same room all day?" Naruto asked.
Gaara shrugged then looked down at his book, wanting to ignore everyone.
"What do you mean?" Tenten questioned Naruto.
"He's been in every single one of my classes. Not even my best friend, Sasuke, is in all of my classes!"
"Really?" Kankuro asked. "Huh, no wonder I haven't seen Gaara all day. I'm not in any of your classes."
"So how long are we going to study?" Naruto said, plopping into a chair and making himself comfortable.
"I guess a few hour - ."
"As long as necessary," Gaara hissed quietly, glaring at his sister. "There are not going to be any parties tonight, Temari-nee-san. Especially no alcohol. You remember the last time you got drunk, right?"
Temari laughed nervously. The youngest of the siblings glared. Whether it was lazily or tiredly, it was hard to tell. Kankuro shuddered at the memory as he sat down. Suddenly, he stood back up and pulled out a chair.
"Sorry. Forgot my manners for a second," Kankuro said, referring to Tenten.
Tenten blinked for a few seconds. Then she realized he was offering the chair to her. She smiled kindly at him.
"Thank you," she said and sat down.
Gaara rolled his eyes and Naruto made a gagging sound. The blond received glares.
The next three hours passed in one-third noise, one-third silence, and one-third normal speaking. Kankuro and Tenten eventually had to go into the living room so that they could get away from Temari quickly loosing her temper at Naruto's rebelliousness. Gaara only occasionally glanced up at his sister and the blond boy. Lee shifted nervously, having difficultly concentrating himself, but too afraid of infuriating Temari to say anything. Lee did think of asking Gaara if he would like to move, but after thinking about that for a few moments, he realized that Gaara wasn't the type to just sit there if he minded. The red head would either say something along the lines of "shut up" (like Neji did often) or just get up and leave (like Tenten often did when she was annoyed by Neji's and Lee's banters). So the black-haired boy just sat there and tried to survive the night.
Temari eventually gave up on Naruto and asked if anyone was hungry. Kankuro gave a manly scream and those in the kitchen could hear him running up stairs, yelling "DUCK FOR COVER! TEMARI'S THINKING OF COOKING!" Naruto burst out laughing, Lee restrained himself from chuckling, they could hear Tenten giggling, and Gaara merely shook his head. Temari glared at the patch of ceiling where Kankuro's room was.
"Ungrateful little . . . . So what are you guys hungry for?" Temari said.
Tenten entered the kitchen, still giggling.
"How 'bout dumplings? I'll cook them if you want. Your brother's kind of funny," Tenten said.
"No, he's not," Temari retorted with a glare.
"Uh, I know how to fix fried rice and sushi," Lee suggested.
"Do you have ramen?" Naruto asked.
Temari looked like she was thinking.
"It's been a while since I've had shrimp tempura. Uncle Yashamaru used to make it. Maybe we could have that?" Temari said, smiling.
Two loud thuds broke through the air. The group of four looked at Gaara, who had closed his book and slammed it onto the table. Everyone kept silent as he stood up.
"I have to get started on this essay for English. I'll be up in my room," Gaara said and walked toward the stairs.
"Do you want me to bring something up to you?" Temari asked kindly, like one would for an ill child.
"No. I'm not hungry," Gaara hissed, exiting the kitchen.
The room was quiet for a few more seconds.
"What's his problem?" Naruto asked.
Temari frowned. She turned to the refrigerator and motioned to open the door, but stopped.
"Two months ago, our uncle died. Kankuro and I actually didn't know about it until the funeral. The funeral was an entire week after his death. Gaara had confined himself to his room for that entire week, only letting Dad in. He didn't go to the funeral either. After the funeral, Dad said that we were going to try to move. He didn't tell us where. During the rest of those two months, he round up the money, paid the quote-on-quote law enforcement so we could move, then we all started packing. That's when we finally got to see Gaara again . . . and his room . . . . On one side of the room, the floor was covered in blood. There was a bullet hole in the wall. Gaara was shaking, wouldn't tell us what happened, and he was much, much thinner than the last time we saw him. We still don't know what happened, but it was like one of the people in Sunagakure who had seen the worst that the town can give. We . . . we talked to Dad about getting Gaara some counseling, but he turned that idea down. Because of Sunagakure's bad reputation, none of us can get anything that's not required by law until we've been here for three years with no criminal record. I'm not even sure where Dad's working, or what his job is because of it. Then again, I didn't know what his job was in Sunagakure either."
Temari trailed off. She seemed to be in deep thought. She turned to the three and smiled brightly.
"Nothing to worry about though! We'll get it fixed eventually!" Temari reassured.
Naruto, Lee, and Tenten were silent. Tenten walked over to Temari and gave her a gentle hug. Lee stood up.
"Iruka-sensei is great with kids! He's also the school's counselor! He'll be glad to help Gaara-kun with any problems he has!" Lee announced. "He's also helped me with my own!"
"Yeah, we'll get you guys help in no time!" Tenten agreed.
"Maybe I can get my dad to do something. He is the head of the Konoha police force," Naruto said.
Temari's jaw dropped.
"He's the what? How'd he raise such a rebellious kid?" Temari asked.
Naruto grinned foxily.
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Red Roses2: Start guessing what happened to Gaara. I dare you. Se-Isis, I know you know. Anyway, PLEASE review with whipped cream, a cherry, chopped nuts, hot fudge, carmel, and a hot date with insert character on top? With a romantic dinner for two in insert favorite country with a hotel reservation hinthint?