Naruto is troubled by a surprising news and Gaara is bothered by a sudden issue.

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto. Don't sue me. I'm broke! Naruto © Kishimoto Masashi

The Boy in the Picture

Chapter 3 : Troubled Mind

© eiirisa

"You're coming home with me," he slammed his backpack on her desk. As soon as the bell rang indicating school's over, he immediately made his way to her class. And instead of waiting by the door, he went inside. "No running away this time."

"Geez, if you're mad about just now, I'm sorry," she elbowed him as she stood up and pushed her seat in. "Unlike you, I don't want to get demerits for skipping class. Don't tell me you stayed there after that."

"Oh, about two hours," he send her some guilt before looking away. "I really thought you'll eventually come back."

"What?!" her heart fell on the floor. No wonder he's mad. She didn't like it when he's moody. Things get dull when he's out of his cheerful self, especially if she happens to be the one who caused his hurt. Like the time when she didn't come to his game because she got carried away shopping with Ino; Naruto didn't smile for days. She preferred that he gets angry at her and tell her how disappointed he was instead of saying 'Its okay' when she apologized, and carry on with silent treatment.

"But you do know I never dared to skip class," she tried to defend herself. Come to think of it, in this matter, it's not her fault. "And it's not something I wanna do in school, if you get what I mean."

He grinned.

"Now what?" she was getting confused with his reactions.

"I'm just kidding, Sakura-chan," he spread his arm on her shoulders as they got down the stairs. "I went back to class right after you left. So you're coming home with me, right?"

This time, his invitation sounds more like a suggestion than an order. Although she was going to push him away for playing tricks on her and making her panic over nothing, she felt relieved that he wasn't upset about her flight. So she just let his arm stay as he rambled about the funny things happened in class until they arrived at the locker hall, to slip into their sneakers.

"Ah, I just remembered something," she halted her steps when they were already out of the gates. "Naruto, I can't come with you. Mom wanted me to help her with the yard sale preparation."

"Can't you tell her you'll be late for a bit?" he complained. He knew her family was planning weird activities every now and then. He knew the Harunos were holding a yard sale today too and he almost wished it slipped off her mind. Aren't yard sales supposed to be held on weekends? "Lately, we're not spending much time together, you know."

"Oh, yes we do," she corrected him. "We're just not fooling around that often."

"Hey, watch it," he nearly snapped at her. He frowned; his blue eyes burned into her's. "I love you. We're not fooling around."

"I... I know that," she blushed. She's not used to see him so serious about them. In fact, it's the first time she saw him react that way, although what she said just now was just a phrase. She found him really sweet despite the childish selfishness.

"I'll walk you home," he said as he grabbed her hand. That's what he's been doing every time after school, and she never got bored of hearing him say it. It made her feel protected.

"Don't forget to tell your mom we're going out this Saturday, okay?" he reminded her. He didn't want anything to spoil their outing, even if it means weird family activities again. It seems like if he wanted to take Sakura out on a date, he has to make reservations. Its not that Sakura's parents were overprotecting her, it's just that things can fall into the necessary and the unnecessary. And when that happens, its family first. "It won't be fun if it's just me and Gaara. – Okay, we're here. Send them my regards."

"You're not mad at me, right?" she turned to face him before unlatching the gates. Things didn't turn out the way he wanted today and she felt bad about it too. Especially when it seemed like he's hiding his disappointment.

"What are you talking about?" he smiled and pecked her forehead. "I'm just letting you run away for now."

"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes, took her bag from him and went into her house. "See you tomorrow!"

"Tadaima!" Naruto greeted when he reached home.

"Just in time, Tsunade-sama wanted to tell you something," a middle aged man was lounging on the couch, reading the morning's newspaper. His coat was sprawled on the hand rest, which meant he just came back from work. "And care to explain to me why were you missing in action during my class?"

"Ah, Iruka-sensei, you do know your class bores me to death," the young man mumbled as he took off his jacket. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

"Of course you didn't miss anything," he's used to Naruto's intolerance and whatever the kid will spurt out of his mouth in protest will not mean a thing after that because Iruka's words were final. Iruka and Naruto lived together under one roof and he's also Naruto's homeroom teacher. To him, having a mischievous kid to face 24-hours a day was more than he can handle. "As long as I'm giving you special class after dinner, you won't miss a thing from what I've covered in class today."

"Not again," the blond kid murmured under his breath.

"Hm? You said something?" the man's eyes were focusing on the papers but his voice was daunting enough.

"Nothing," Naruto brushed it away. "So why's granny(1) asking for me?"

"Beats me," Iruka shrugged. Suddenly his expression changed. "Oh, let's go together. She said I can come too."

"What does she mean by you can come too?" the fact was somewhat fishy.

"She seemed a bit restless when she got back just now," he explained smilingly. It made Naruto wondered what had got into him. Just a few moments ago he was strict and now he easily switched into a homey mode. "You know how she gets when she's restless. So you probably need me to neutralize the situation if things get out of hand."

"But you said, she wanted to tell me something," Naruto found himself being pushed towards the stairs. "Me as in me. How come you're in the picture too?"

"Listen, Naruto," Iruka's voice suddenly turned low and fixed his eyes on him. From strict to homey and suddenly to being serious. This hadn't happened in a long time. The changes disturbed Naruto. "What we will tell you later... It might be surprising. But... we want you to know that, it's all for your sake. Of what's good for you, understand?"

"What are you talking about?" Something was indeed fishy and Iruka's act made it looked like a bad news was in store for him. Whatever it was, he realized that Iruka was in it too. Otherwise...

Iruka knocked the door to the study room and a voice from the inside invited them in. Naruto took a good look of the lady sitting behind her desk. She wasn't looking so good, like she had lost some sleep. Something was troubling her.

"Come sit, please," she told them as she leaned forward to grab a large envelope resting on her table. "Naruto, how was school?"

"Uh, great," the boy changed glances with his homeroom teacher cum house member then looked back again at Tsunade. "So, gran, what is it... that you wanted to tell me?" He was a bit hesitant.

The room was getting chilly. Not because of the air-conditioner but because of the silence that hung in the air. Tsunade was shuffling out the documents from the envelope she had in hand and looking at them one by one. She frowned at every page she passed through. It doesn't seem like a news Naruto wanted to hear but he managed to endure the silence because of his curiosity.

The boy glanced at the man sitting beside him who was also glancing at him. He couldn't imagine what the news was going to be but it already freaked him out. Naruto was about to open his mouth to say some thing when the lady in front of them uttered something that shocked his entire being.

"We think we found your dad."

Naruto's heart stopped a few seconds before it drummed heavily beneath his ribs. No beating around the bush. No words to comfort before the real deal. No explanation of what she had gone through for that. No nothing. As simple as it sounds, it was hard to swallow. No, he didn't want to swallow it but the news was choking him that his eyes were about to bulge out. Those words itself was enough of an explanation. It was loud and clear. He wasn't expecting to receive any news about a dad. His dad. He had been taken into the orphanage since his mother died when she gave birth to him and the search for his dad and any other relatives had came to an end by the time he was ten due to all the misleading clues.

Tsunade manages the orphanage centre where Naruto was taken into. As a kid he was very naughty and such a trouble brat but, although he tends to give grownups headaches, when it comes to cheering people up, he was at his best. In spite all that, he was lovable and Tsunade had taken him to live with her when he was seven and raised him up.

Iruka, who's also an orphan of the centre, started to live with them when he was transferred to teach at Konoha High. He was never fostered by any families but with the help of the centre and government funds, he managed to get into college and graduate. So it was a little world of three people with different backgrounds, but to Naruto, they were his family and no one else can take their place.

Except now that they found his dad, he knew things will never be the same.

"So what?" Naruto finally let out a reaction with his face darkened. Instead of feeding his curiosity with several questions he wanted to ask so terribly, he refused to accept the news. "Are you going to give me away?"

"Naruto!" Iruka hissed at him. Naruto was at his foul mood and it can just make things worse if he continues to be like that. "Don't talk like that. Tsunade-sama had gone through a lot to make sure whether it is your real dad or not, you can't just – "

"Its okay, Iruka," the lady placed all the documents back into its envelope and shoved it into her drawers. "Can I please talk to Naruto? In private?"

"Yes, ma'am," he was reluctant but he knew this matter can only be resolved by her. So he stood up and left through the door, closing it behind him.

"Naruto," she studied his face. He was not going to tolerate with her, she knew it. But she had to tell him no matter how hard it is for him to accept it after all these years of failed search. More over, it was hard for her to accept it too. "Please understand that –"

"I thought we agreed to stop searching already," he interrupted her. He recalled the past when every search and effort to find his family always ended in frustrations. "What makes you suddenly want to get rid of me?"

"Don't interrupt when a woman is talking," she lifted her elbows off the table and folded her arms on her chest. She wasn't going to lose her patient on him. Not just yet. "I haven't finished. – Yes, we did stop the search and we never did anymore of it. Case closed, but..."

"But what?" the blond kid finally gave in to his curiosity.

"He was the one who came searching for you," she released a heavy sigh. "In fact, he actually didn't know how you looked like, to say the least. But when he looked at your pictures that were kept in the centre and told him the details of your late mom..."

Naruto was at the edge of his seat by now. Although it somehow ripped something inside of his being, he couldn't resist hearing that someone was searching for him; after 15 years of his life. It was strange. Damn strange. He wanted to feel happy, but at the same time, it also meant sadness to him. If it were his real dad, then he has to leave this family. That's what usually happens when you're part of the orphanage and foster cares. Either you found a blood relative or get adopted, you leave your family for another family.

"He wanted you in his life," she turned her face away. Naruto caught glimpse of tears welling up her eyes. "He wanted you in his life so badly..."

"Just as bad as we wanted you to stay here with us for always," she couldn't bottle up her pain anymore. The pain that she had known so well that it will come someday. The pain of losing him. She placed a hand over her face to hide away what's already clear to his sight.

"Granny," realizing his childish acts just now, Naruto came to her side, knelt down and looked at her. "I-I'm sorry I said you wanted to get rid of me..."

"It's okay. I know how it makes you feel," she held his head, and he rested it on her lap. He used to do it when he was a kid every time when he felt so down. It seemed nostalgic to cling to her that way.

"But I don't want to leave this place, this home," he mumbled. "Can't you just refuse his request? Don't I have the right to choose where I wanna be?"

"You have the right to choose if you want to be fostered or not. But it's your real family we're talking about here, they have all the right on you," she stroked his hair lovingly, thinking it will be her last time doing so. "Sadly, no matter how hard or how bad I wished for it, I'm still not the person who has the right to bring you up."

She was right. Even if he's under foster care right now, if suddenly a blood relative appeared to claim him, they have the rights to take him away. It wasn't stated in any rules but that's how things work. Fight it in the courts, the blood relatives will always have the right for custody. Today, he somehow despised the rights.

Why did he have to appear when I finally feel so belong here?! He wanted to scream it out.

She knew she had no choice, she can't be his guardian forever, and she can't be selfish just because she loved this child like her own. She sensed that he was scared and if she wanted him to be strong, she needed to be strong for him first. She knew what's best for him and his future. Family is always first, and in his case, real family is always first.

Determined to give the best for the child in front of her, she wiped her little tears away, mustered her strength and held his chin up.

"I will tell you what I know."

The next day at school, Naruto wasn't himself. He didn't pull pranks on Kiba, he didn't distract Sai away with his empty talks and surprisingly, he didn't go out during the whole period of Iruka's class. In fact he wasn't paying attention to anything at all.

Kiba threw a crumpled paper on Naruto's head but instead of throwing it back at him full throttle, all he did was opening it flat and started to rip it into thin pieces. While doing so, his eyes stared into nothingness.

"Oi, what are you doing, dude?" Kiba whispered, slightly upset Naruto wasn't going to play with him. He was pretty bored. Besides, it was quite loud for a whisper but Iruka didn't seem to hear it.

"I'm making hamster's straws(2)," he answered nonchalantly.

"But you don't have a damn hamster!" again his whisper was loud and he failed to realize that.

"Yeah, I don't," he continued ripping the paper as he thought about what Tsunade had told him yesterday. She didn't have much details about his father herself. It seemed like the man wanted to keep things confidential for the moment. Naruto kept wondering why certain things were kept in secret from the centre, like his name and his job, among all information. But Tsunade said she was going to find out soon and she promised so.

The things she had said to him kept repeating in his mind over and over until he thinks it doesn't make sense anymore. As if those words had a foreign meaning to him. He thought and thought about it all the time until he can memorize every word. One by one. And still, it was too good to be true.

We found the man who looks like you
Who cried and said he never knew
About the boy in the pictures that we showed him...
A rambler in his younger days
He knew he made a few mistakes
But he swore he would have been there
Had he known it...

"Hey, aren't you going to lunch?" the nasty Inuzuka kicked the blond's desk. "We're you mentally rehearsing how you would go down the pet shop and pick up a fur ball?"

"Very funny," Naruto was starting to sound like Sai. Monotone.

"So haven't you heard the bells? Its lunch time," Kiba, without realizing, tore the long rips into halves. "You're always excited about recess. So what's with you and hamsters? If you wanna drop by at the pet shop, I'll tag. I need to get Akamaru's food."

"I'm waiting for Sakura," he tried to ignore Kiba's jumpy topics. He should improve on how he constructs his sentences for once. People always get confused with what he's talking sometimes because he mixed things up in a jumble. "You go ahead..."

"Man, you must be hungry to act this way," Kiba was slow to pick up that something was bothering his classmate. "I don't want to get eaten by you, so catch ya later!"

"He wanted you in his life so badly."

Her words lingered in his mind. He never knew exactly how it made him feel. Those words did make him feel important but he has so many questions counter-attacking it. Why was he wanted that badly and why was it now? Why didn't he search for him long ago? Where was he all those years when he searched desperately? After missing 15 years of possible relation and time together, why does it matter that he exists to him now? What actually made him searched for an unknown son?

Suddenly a soft, warm hand touched his forehead and it snapped him back to reality.

"S-Sakura-chan?" he was surprised. After all the heavy thoughts, just looking at her made them disappear. He forced a smile. "To the roof?"

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern. "You looked flustered. You're not sick, are you?"

"Huh? No, not at all," he got up. "I'm fine. Let's go, I'm so hungry!"

"Do you know how it feels when someone you never knew existed suddenly came into your life?" his best friend suddenly asked while they were eating their bento.

Gaara's question strikes through him like a laser beam. Naruto hadn't mentioned anything about what's bothering him to anyone yet. Plus he was so sure he hid his troubles well with his cheerful attitude. It's impossible that someone could actually figure out what's cooking in the back of his head.

"Hm, never thought of that," he lied. Secretly wishing Gaara hadn't actually read his mind. "Why do you asked?"

"How come you never thought about it?" the redhead glared at him as he chewed his food. "You're from the orphanage, right? Things like this never crossed your mind or what?"

Naruto and Sakura were shocked to hear him talk like that. Gaara seemed to be angered that he didn't watch his words. They knew he didn't mean to hurt anyone with what he just said, but rather, they can see that he was inflicting hurt on himself through his own words. Why was he acting that way?

"Well... sometimes," Naruto answered hesitantly. "But it never really mattered to me."

Never really mattered, huh? He mentally laughed at himself.

"Then I'd better ask someone else instead," Gaara suddenly packed his bento and walked away from them.

The two was still dumbstruck on their spot as they watched him walked down the stairs and disappeared from their sight.

"Did I say something wrong?" Naruto asked his girl who was sitting beside him. She shrugged. "Stay here. I'll be back."

Naruto immediately ran down the stairs to catch up with his friend. To his luck, Gaara was still in sight. He hastily jumped over several steps and called out Gaara's name but the redhead kept on his pace.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he wiped a sweat when he managed to block the redhead's way, catching for his breath. "Why are you leaving? You're not even done with lunch yet."

"I'm full," their eyes met. Naruto can see that Gaara was a bit composed now. "I actually have some other things to do."

"No, no, no," he stretched his hand across him and held the handrail. "Wait a minute. Don't tell me... this time it's for real?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he stood still, undisturbed by Naruto's wide grin.

"You have another arranged marriage?" he blurted out. "Again?"

His voice was clear to everyone who was taking the stairs at that moment and those who heard what Naruto just said couldn't help but gasped at the fact. Whether it was true or not, it wasn't impossible if it were Gaara. Indeed he came from a family with prestige where having a fiancée at a young age is quite common. But since it was quite rare in this era, it was hard to believe that such thing like an arranged marriage still happens.

But the arranged marriage that Naruto knew of before was just an April Fool prank Gaara's family pulled on him recently. It was too much for Gaara to take that he ran away and stayed in Naruto's house for a week before his butler persuaded him to return.

"So wanna run away from home?" Naruto suggested. He suddenly thought the idea would work for him as well, now that he's in a troubling dilemma.

"I can't run away from this one," Gaara lifted the blocking hand and walked away.

Ah, I wonder who might be Gaara's fiancée…

(1) I'll stick to 'granny' instead of 'obaa-chan'.

(2) 'Making Hamster's straws' was adapted from Ouran Koukou HC manga.

Thanks for reading and much thanks for reviewing too!