Lucky Charm
by EikoDoll
Chapter Fourteen: Sunagakure Invasion
He didn't like this place.
It was frighteningly weird how nobody seemed to notice him. Anyone with an active brain could see that a strange kid with extremely overdone eyeliner was stalking the halls of Konoha high with an air of imminent peril.
Instead, they seemed to be in their own world, talking about some kid named...
"Naruto!"
"Where!" a bouncy, pigtailed girl searched her surroundings in excitement.
"False alarm." said a girl next to her as everyone around grumbled. "It's just some dumb-ass with blond hair."
"When the hell is Uzumaki going to get here?"
Naruto...Uzumaki?
The boy with excessive eyeliner narrowed his eyes in thought. That name sounded oddly familiar. His eyes traveled randomly to the entrance/exit of the building...
He hated everything, and that included his home in Suna,
but it was a hell of a lot better than being stuck in this bizarre alternate universe where nobody seemed to fear him.
Gaara Sabaku lived on fear.
As he headed for the exit, his eye caught sight of a tall, blond boy with whisker tattoos on his face, holding a cell phone to his ear. Gaara stopped walking when he realized time just froze and everybody was held in silence, staring at the boy who just entered the building.
The boy was slow to notice their attention on him. "Sakura, I swear to you, I didn't eat your chocolate pancakes for breakfast this morning...I wasn't running away!...okay, fine, I ran away, but NOT because I ate your chocolate pancakes!...No, I-"
He stopped in his tracks, finally realizing all eyes were glued to him.
Gaara was very confused.
And so was the boy, apparently.
"Uh, Sakura, I'll call you back." he touched his screen and slowly put it away in his pants pocket. He observed the school hall, scattered with numerous female students (which Gaara thought very odd), all focused entirely on him. "Helloooo."
They had a peculiar look in their eyes; a look Gaara was unfamiliar with,
but a look Naruto knew all too well.
He immediately turned around and sprinted out the door.
"GET HIM!" roared the girl with pigtails.
The crowd of students stormed after the boy, pushing and shoving Gaara aside as if he were invisible.
That was definitely a new experience for him.
Who the hell is this Naruto Uzumaki?
Sakura couldn't believe that jerk.
First he secretly eats her chocolate pancakes while she's getting dressed for school,
and then he runs away before she could smack the living hell out of him!
The pink haired girl sighed, not really caring about the pancakes at all. She and Naruto spent the entire weekend alone together, and all the while, she felt like she was in heaven. She loved how Naruto tried to be, what he thought, was a good boyfriend. Sakura smiled thinking about the time he left a single daisy outside of her room...
Sure, he secretly plucked it out of Tsunade's 'off-limits' prized garden, but it's the thought that counts. And it was a very sweet thought, too.
Too bad they were immediately interrupted once she entered the school building. She examined her surroundings and found that it was completely inhabited by the male student body.
Where'd all the girls go?
An imaginary light bulb flashed above Sakura's head and she saw a clear image of Naruto...
being chased by hundreds of girls.
The only girl in the hall burned furiously. She wasn't sure how the secret got out, but after checking her facebook status yesterday, she was shocked, to the point of suffering a borderline heart attack, that many of her friends (a whopping 1,000+) could only write about Naruto's lucky kiss and how they were going to 'get him'.
What the shizz?
Obviously, it killed her that everyone knew! She wanted to murder the person who spilled the beans...having no idea that it was actually herself that 'spilled the beans'. However, her murderous intentions were easily forgotten when Naruto came into her room, happily presenting her with an original ramen recipe he named 'The Sakura'.
Her heart melted and that was the end of her daily facebook check ups.
So it was decided: as soon as Sakura finds Naruto, she'll torture the mob of girls who dared to even TRY to kiss her man, then she'll torture her man who ate all of her chocolate pancakes.
Good plan.
Okay, so what's with this creep blocking her way?
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the red haired boy and tapped her foot against the floor. "Move your emo ass out of my way. I have a bunch of bitches to torture."
The boy was caught by surprise, but composed himself and continued to look dangerous. "Make me."
The boys in the hallway stopped their daily routine before class and gawked frightfully at the scene. Now this is what Gaara was talking about.
Except for some reason, he had a feeling they weren't gawking frightfully at him...
"Are you fuckin' mental or something?" asked the girl rhetorically.
Gaara smirked maliciously. "I was admitted into a mental hospital once. Don't be surprise if I attack you on the spot." his aura darkened. "I might just kill you..."
That definitely got her to shut up. This would be the pink headed girl's cue to run for her life.
But to Gaara's shock, she did no such thing.
"You think threats are going to scare me?" she scoffed arrogantly, flipping her hair aside with poise. Apparently, this guy didn't know he was currently looking at the goddess of fear and despair. "If anything, you're irritating me to death." she mocked.
"As long as it kills you." his quiet, piercing voice would have anyone shaking in their boots.
Interestingly enough, there was no trace of fear in her expression. "Listen, if you don't get out of my way then-"
"Then what..." Gaara crossed his arms. "Pinky?"
At this point, the boys in the hallway decided going to class was a lot safer than being here. Soon enough, the area was completely deserted with the exception of Gaara and this strange, fearless girl.
Sakura straightened her posture and held her head high.
Oh no he di'int.
"Okay."
Gaara watched her walk toward to him. He couldn't help but feel a deeper chill every time she took a closer step.
"Here's what'll happen." she spoke into his ear with such malevolence, his shock couldn't quite process what was going on. "I will literally slice your dick off with a dull razor blade and feed them to rabid dogs."
Gaara inwardly gaped.
"Then I will starve them to the point of death until all they will want is a taste of your salty, disfigured balls. As soon as I let them loose into the night...they will track you down...and eat you."
The awfully specific (and graphic) way of threatening his life brought Gaara to a complete silence. With a blank face, he slowly moved aside and cleared Sakura's path.
"That's what I thought, Red." she smirked and passed him by without so much as a glance.
As Gaara watched her fade away down the hall, his mind lingered solely on two things:
Naruto Uzumaki,
and the spawn of satan with bubblegum colored hair.
Naruto was traumatized.
He didn't know how the entire student body found out about his secret 'power', but this knowledge brought physical pain to his body.
Those Konoha girls are vicious...
Waiting nervously in the principal's office, he sat himself down, flinching every time he heard someone coming near the door. He didn't exactly know why Tsunade called him in here in the first place, but he hoped to god she would be kind enough to let him stay in her office, possibly forever.
The door opened slowly, and Naruto nearly screamed for his life.
"Oh, it's only you, baa-chan." he sighed in relief.
And some weird lookin' kid with eyeliner standing right behind her.
The image of a raccoon entered his mind.
They entered further into the room, and Tsunade's eyes widened. "Naruto, what happened to you?" she pulled out a handkerchief, wiping his entire face. "You're covered in lipstick!"
He shuddered. "The girls..." the traumatic memory haunted him. "They just started attacking me...and anyone who got in the way." he fervently remembered how the female body scratched, slapped, and kicked each other to get to the 'lucky charm'. He never witness so many cat fights in his life.
"Huh..." Tsunade gestured the raccoon boy to take a seat next to Naruto as she sat comfortably in her own. "...that must have been interesting."
Naruto looked bitter. "It would've been...if I wasn't their target."
"Well, get used to it, kid. Your lucky kiss is public news now; girls will hunt you down whether you like it or not." said Tsunade without a single tone of remorse.
"Thanks a lot, baa-chan."
The boy sitting next to Naruto was lost in confusion.
Lucky kiss?
Konoha's principal smiled. "In spite of all this craziness, we have a visitor." she gestured towards the red head.
Naruto turned his head and gave the boy a nod of acknowledgement. "Hey."
"..." the boy didn't make a sound. He only stared Naruto down as if he were trying to figure him out.
Tsunade continued. "This is Gaara Sabaku. He's a student from our sister school, Sunagakure high. Gaara, this is Naruto Uzumaki, the kid I told you about."
Gaara didn't give any sign of acknowledgement, although his eyes were intently focused on the boy who was chased down by a pack of wild girls.
"Every year we invite one student from Suna to come to Konoha high and send one student from Konoha high to go to Suna." she explained.
Naruto's eyes brightened with hope. "Does this mean you're sending me to Suna?"
"Of course not." Tsunade crushed his spirit. "That honor goes to the best student of our school, that being Sasuke Uchiha."
His spirit was further crushed. "Then what the hell am I doing here?"
"This may come as a shock to you," explained Tsunade. "but the honor of guiding our visitor goes to the most popular kid in school."
Naruto blinked in confusion. "That would be Sakura, right?"
"In the past it would have been." the principal nodded in agreement. "However, that title has officially been passed down to you."
The poor boy was still confused.
"You have to admit, Naruto." Tsunade's eyes were sympathetic. "Due to your unusual circumstances, people want to be near you."
"Not in a good way!"
"You may not know this, but even before your secret got out, you were the most likable kid in school."
That definitely got Naruto to calm down. "Really?"
Tsunade gave him a reassuring nod and a compassionate smile. "All the teachers tell me the students have really warmed up to you."
Naruto sat quietly, deep in thought. It was true people didn't react to him the way they used to. In fact, now that he really thought about it, they really did warm up to him. The hateful looks and vicious taunts were replaced by smiles and pleasant small talk. It was weird...
yet incredibly wonderful.
He leaned into his seat and beamed stupendously. "Who woulda thought the outcast of Konoha high would be the most popular guy in school?" he laughed.
"Not in a million lifetimes."
"Thanks, baa-chan."
The woman chuckled.
"Come on, Gaara." Naruto quickly jumped out of his chair and threw the raccoon a boyish smile. "You can help me pull a prank on Iruka-sensei."
The student from Suna slowly picked himself up and followed Naruto out the door without a single expression.
Gaara crossed his arms, curiously watching Naruto pull out a wig, some clothes, and a mustache out of his big, orange bag.
"You're probably wondering what I'm doing with all these disguises." Naruto flashed him a grin and removed his uniform, quickly replacing it with a janitor's outfit.
Gaara made no indication that he was interested (but secretly, he was thinking 'What the fuck.').
"I use these to get away with pranks. If I couldn't run away fast enough, I'd hide somewhere, put on a disguise, and walk away without anyone recognizing me." he laughed proudly at his many accomplishments. He cradled his bag affectionately. "Just remember one thing, Gaara: backpacks aren't made to carry boring textbooks...they're made to keep your disguises safe in case you're in a sticky situation."
"I don't need disguises." the red head bluntly replied. "I can get away with anything without getting in trouble."
Naruto carefully smoothed out his mustache. "Really? What's your secret?"
"Threatening to kill whoever gets in my way."
...
Naruto slapped his mustache on and flattened his hair to pull a black wig over it. "Huh. That sounds like somebody I know." he thought of a deceivingly sweet and beautiful face.
"But why are you using your disguise now?" Gaara watched him stuff his backpack under his janitor's uniform, creating the illusion of a big belly. "You haven't even pulled your prank yet."
"Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures. I. Need. To. Get. Away. From. Those. Damn. Girls." Naruto bit out in frustration.
Gaara raised an non-existent eyebrow. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"What's all this about a lucky kiss?"
Naruto fell silent. Gaara watched curiously as the boy's face paled dramatically. "You don't wanna know."
Gaara left it at that.
As soon as Naruto was pleased with his appearance, he and Gaara stepped out of the janitor's closet (not before grabbing a mop to complete the look) and walked down the empty hallway.
"Naruto, there you are!"
When Gaara turned around, his eyes widened slightly, barely enough to notice.
It was the spawn of satan.
He felt an urging need to protect his dick.
"Oh, Sakura!" Naruto coughed nervously. "Hiiiii."
"Don't 'hi' me." she poked a finger at his chest and glared demonically, ignoring Gaara all together. "You ran away without walking me to school."
Naruto put his hands up in defense. "I wasn't running away! Jiraiya ate your pancakes, I swear!"
"Who cares about the damn pancakes!" Sakura paused and brought her face closer to Naruto's while he gulped nervously. She brought her finger up to his cheek and viciously wiped a particular spot with one stroke. "Lipstick." she hissed.
"Uhh...it's mine."
"You wear pink lipstick?"
"...yes..."
"Why?" she eyed him suspiciously.
"..." Naruto stalled. "...I'm a transvestite?"
"I'll kill them. I'll kill them all!" Sakura raged horrifically, bringing darkness upon the school.
For the first time in his life, Gaara couldn't help it: he gaped.
"Where are you going!" Naruto shouted out to her as she stomped away, crushing anyone that would get in her way.
"Class!" she walked further down the hall.
"What about the kiss? Kakashi's passing out a test today!"
"Don't need it." she winked. "I'm conquering this shit on my own." she gave him a wave, however, still not giving up on her violent thoughts. "And take off that stupid disguise. I could still spot you a mile away!"
Naruto sighed in relief as she disappeared into the hallway. She didn't kill him for the pancakes...
"You know pinky?"
Naruto turned to look at Gaara and smiled. "Of course! She's my girlfriend."
Gaara shook his head; it was unbelievable. "I never thought I'd admit this...but I have the utmost respect for you."
The 'fat janitor' shrugged. "I know, she's beautiful."
"No. Not because of that." said Gaara. "She's fucking scary. Anyone able to bear her for an entire minute has my deepest respect."
Another thing Gaara never thought he would admit...
knowing someone was even scarier than him.
Naruto raised a dubious eyebrow. "So how did she traumatize you?" he asked as if it were an everyday question.
"She threatened to cut off my dick and feed it to rabid dogs."
Naruto sighed. He clasped Gaara's shoulder and grinned sympathetically. "She probably meant that."
Great.
Despite slightly fearing for his life, Konoha was beginning to look a lot better than he had originally thought. Naruto Uzumaki was the most highly unusual kid he's ever known. Not only was he easy to talk to (which in Gaara's case, is a miracle), he was pleasant to be around with. That's saying something knowing the 'emo eyeliner freak' didn't think anything was pleasant.
"Come on!" Naruto tightened his grip on the supply of pranks and motioned his new friend to follow along. "I wanna get this done before second period." his crystal blue eyes brightened mischievously.
The moment Gaara took a step, he saw Naruto's mischievous eyes widen with horror. Before he could take another step, he found himself being pushed and shoved...
again.
"THERE HE IS!"
"GET HIM!" a crowd of screeching girls lunged for Naruto's face.
Dropping his supplies, he ran desperately for his life. "Gaara! I'll find you later!"
The red headed boy stood silently in shock.
This alternate universe was starting to creep him out.
Running into each other was inevitable at some point. Both the girl and boy stopped in front of each other, not exactly sure whether they should speak up or pass each other by.
Ino swallowed her pride and spoke first. "Hi..." she cleared her throat. "Shikamaru."
The spiky haired boy nervously opened his mouth. "Hey, Ino." he was glad she at least had the decency to call him by his real name.
"About what happened at prom..." she began.
After about ten seconds of waiting for a response, Shikamaru inwardly sighed knowing there wasn't going to be any.
"It's okay, Ino. Let's just forget about it."
"No!" her sudden outburst caused Shikamaru to blink wildly. "I mean..." she composed herself. "I can't forget about it. What you said-"
"Yeah, um, about that." he looked at her sheepishly. "Every time I think back on it, I always feel ashamed of what I said to you that night." he smiled apologetically.
Ino couldn't help but feel a little charmed. She never did see him smile like that before...
"I'm sorry."
She was speechless. He was so sincere and genuine. The only other person she ever knew with such sincerity was...
Naruto.
Ino shook her thoughts of him away. Naruto was far out of her reach; the only person who could ever have his heart, is admittedly, her former best friend, Sakura. Over the extremely short weekend, Ino had no choice but to finally accept that hurtful fact.
"Do you wanna walk me to my next class?" Ino asked, surprising both herself and Shikamaru.
His dark eyes widened. "Y-Yeah, sure." he sputtered. The boy known as the 'laziest guy in the world' never expected to have anything to do with Ino Yamanaka, the goddess of Konoha high, especially after that fateful night at prom.
Shikamaru knew her relationship with Naruto was all a sham, but he hoped his blue eyed prankster of a friend didn't mind the sudden spark that lit up in his heart.
Gaara was deeply disturbed by his tour guide's choice of...disguise.
"How's my makeup?" Naruto batted his eyelashes and applied a little more pink lipstick. He wasn't lying when he said it was his.
The emo boy didn't say a word. Not only was the guy dressed like a girl...
he was also very pretty.
Not cool at all.
"Where are we going?" Gaara changed the subject.
Naruto straightened his skirt and fixed his oversized breasts. "Lunch with the guys. Today's mystery meatloaf day."
Disgusting. But Gaara couldn't care less. "Will satan's daughter be joining us?"
"Not today. She has detention with Tsunade baa-chan. Apparently she caught Sakura threatening the lives of a bunch of freshmen girls in the gym during third period." he shook his head shamefully. "It's too bad...I really wanted her to meet the guys. But I guess you're a pretty good substitute!" he firmly patted Gaara's back.
Gaara didn't dare express his utter relief.
Once they got to their destination in the cafeteria, Naruto spotted the usual table, grateful that nobody else saw through his disguise.
"Hey, guys!" Naruto and Gaara reached the table of six boys, casually talking about random things with a laptop sitting in the middle. "This is Gaara. He's visiting us from Suna."
Everyone around the table stared at the odd girl in confusion...except Kiba.
The dog-like boy turned to Naruto with a 'smooth' smile and wiggled his eyebrows. "Why, hello little lady." he winked and sexily ran a hand through his brown hair.
Naruto was aghast. "Kiba, it's me!"
"Wha..." Kiba looked closer and choked on air. "Naruto!"
"Shh!" the blond transvestite nudged his friend's arm. "I'm in disguise."
Kiba's face twitched in horror. "Oh my god." his mouth threatened to retch. "I can't believe I just imagined you soaking naked in a pink, hot, bubble bath!"
Gaara was terribly troubled.
This was seriously the gayest school ever.
"What the hell gives you the right to dress up like a hot chick!" Kiba actually threw up in his mouth.
"I don't know, ask all those stupid girls who keep trying to kiss me!" Naruto exclaimed. He shoved Kiba aside to make room for both himself and Gaara.
The dog lover gaped stupidly. "Why are you always living my dream?" he sighed in sadness.
Neji scoffed and rolled his eyes. His friends are so ridiculous. "Was it Gaara?" he focused his attention on the red headed, eyeliner wearing boy.
Gaara only gave him an expressionless look.
"So you're the exchange student from Suna." his white eyes examined the new kid, head to toe. In Neji's opinion, Sunagakure definitely won the award for having the most intimidating students.
"I'm Lee!" the one with bushy eyebrows offered a hand.
Gaara didn't take it.
"He's not a touchy feeling kind of guy." Naruto added as he chowed down on his meatloaf.
He also looked like a devil-worshiper.
"Right." Lee pulled back. "Anyway, this is Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino. We're glad to have you here, Gaara." he effortlessly gave the Suna kid a friendly, vibrant smile.
Gaara wasn't quite used to being around friendly people; he made a quiet noise of acknowledgement.
"So why did they pick you to come to Konoha?" asked Kiba in curiosity.
A darkening force surrounded Gaara and everyone shivered...save for Naruto who freely enjoyed eating the mystery meatloaf. Being around Sakura for so long, he didn't pay any mind to evil auras anymore.
"I cut off my teacher's finger with a butter knife for no reason." he muttered darkly. "And my school decided sending me to Konoha high was the perfect opportunity to get rid of me for a day."
Nobody said a word. They could sense the seriousness in Gaara's words and the only way they could respond was looking at him in terror.
The silence evaporated when Naruto gulped down another bite of meatloaf and wiped his mouth sloppily. "I saw a sasquatch behind the supermarket the other day."
...
The guys suddenly broke into a fit of laughter (while Shino broke into an uncharacteristic, small chuckle).
"I really did!"
Gaara blinked in confusion and looked at everyone in amusement.
"You can always count on Naruto to make light of a seriously disturbing situation." Shikamaru grinned, recuperating from all the silliness.
After five minutes of trying to convince the gang that he actually did see a sasquatch, he finally gave up, grumbling as he continued to devour the meatloaf.
"Hey, Naruto. Looks like some girls secretly took pictures of you and put it up on facebook." Chouji eyed him teasingly.
The disguised boy scrunched his face in confusion and scratched his cheek. "What's facebook?"
"Only the greatest social network in the world!" Kiba exclaimed in excitement. "You can write statuses, put up pictures, add friends, add hot, random girls." he winked and nudged Naruto.
The 'transvestite' eyed the female population in the cafeteria suspiciously. "The last thing I wanna do is 'add girls'...whatever the hell that means." he mumbled.
"I'll make an account for you. Give me your phone." Neji held out a hand. "It can be pretty useful when the situation calls for it."
Naruto shrugged and pulled out his iPhone from his skirt pocket. While Neji played around with his phone, Naruto turned to Gaara and loudly said, "Man, I hate wearing skirts. The breeze is, like, freezing my ass off."
Gaara will never know how to respond to that one.
"Alright, here you go." Neji tossed the phone at Naruto.
He caught it with ease and flashed an appreciative smile at his male-Hyuuga friend. "Thanks, Neji. Secret handshake!" he gestured wildly with his hands.
Neji rolled his eyes.
They performed their secret handshake while Kiba watched jealously as they perfected it.
Satisfied, Naruto eyed his new account, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do first. When he looked up to ask anyone for directions, his eye unexpectedly caught a skinny girl with curly black hair and brown eyes.
Uh oh.
"I FOUND HIM! THE ONE WITH THE PINK LIPSTICK!" she pointed frantically.
A bunch of girls crowded around her and their gazes fell upon Naruto.
"GET HIM!"
In a split second, Gaara turned his head to find that Naruto had already run out of the cafeteria.
An entire hour in detention wasn't that bad when you're Sakura Haruno. The perks of having a guardian as a principal gave her the opportunity to avoid harsh punishment. When others would have to sit down and watch excruciating, educational videos, Sakura only had to sit quietly and finish her homework.
She dropped her pencil and leaned back into her chair with an exasperated sigh.
Since Tsunade was on her 'coffee break' (AKA: alcohol binge), Sakura pulled out her bedazzled cell phone and used her solitary time to log into facebook and check for any new notifications.
She blinked in surprise when she saw that Naruto Uzumaki had added her as a friend.
"Since when did he get a facebook?" she raised an eyebrow.
Either way, she happily accepted his request.
Perking up in her seat, she finally found the chance to update her status: in a relationship with Naruto Uzumaki.
She squealed girlishly in delight.
"Sakura, what are you doing?"
Her happiness was interrupted when she saw Tsunade frowning at her from the door.
"Oh, uh, nothing."
The principal's frowned deepened. "You're not on myspace again, are you?"
"Nobody goes on myspace anymore, Tsunade." Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes. Sheesh, get with the times...
"Oh, what do they call it these days..." Tsunade pondered in thought. "Bookface?"
"God, you're old." Sakura whispered secretively. "It's facebook." she corrected.
"Well get off that thing and do your homework!" Tsunade waved a fist at her and slammed the door shut.
Her guardian's anger didn't undermine Sakura in any way; she still squealed quietly in happiness.
While the pack of wild girls chased him down like a piece of meat, Naruto safely hid in the boy's locker room where he knew he would be safe. He sat quietly on the bench near the showers, eagerly changing out of his disguise, and experimented a bit with facebook. It didn't take long to figure out how it all worked, and he even added his closest friends along the way. The first person he added, of course, was Sakura. He was pleasantly surprised that she accepted his request so quickly.
What surprised him even further was the amount of friend requests HE was receiving. Already over six hundred...with more coming every minute.
Tsunade wasn't kidding when she told him he was the most popular kid in school. He was also very eager to experiment with this thing called Farmville...
"Hey."
Naruto's heart stopped when he saw Gaara sneak up next to him
"Dammit, Gaara. Make a noise when you walk or somethin'!" he gasped for breath. "Finally got my text message, huh?"
Gaara shoved his phone into his pocket and sat casually next to Naruto. "It must be hell having to go through this everyday."
"It's actually the first day...but I'm not looking forward to the remainder of the school year." Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead, still recovering from the shock of Gaara's sudden appearance.
Scrolling down on all the people who sent him a request, he couldn't help but think of Sasuke. Apparently, everyone has a faceook. For goodness sake, even Shino - who made quite a number of friends in the bug-community. He typed in Sasuke Uchiha's name in the search box and waited patiently for the page to load.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto muttered. "You think I should add him?" he asked Gaara.
There was his name...
No profile picture.
No info.
Everything seemed to be set in private.
"From what your friends told me, Sasuke Uchiha is apparently the biggest douche bag on the face of the planet." said Gaara.
Naruto nodded and looked back at the screen. Despite that true statement, he was still seriously contemplating on whether to add Sasuke or not. His head told him it was a bad idea, that this guy is a jerk and it was stupid to even consider it. But he felt something strange tug at his heart...
The Send Friend Request button urged him mockingly. Naruto gave into his heart, as he always does, and sent Sasuke a request. That asshole probably won't even give it a second thought, but at least he could rest easy.
He sighed and tossed his phone into his orange backpack. "Teme's not here to race me in gym class today..." he said in disappointment. "Wanna take his place and race me instead?"
"No."
Zipping up the pocket, Naruto heard heavy footsteps entering the locker room and immediately stood up in panic. When he saw a bunch of guys in his gym class coming in, he sighed in relief.
"Naruto, what's up?" said the first boy that walked in.
The others greeted him as usual, and Naruto nodded and greeted them back, happy to be alive and not trampled by a flock of crazy girls.
"I don't know." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Those girls, I tell you, ever since prom..."
The guys laughed heartily.
"We know." said a fairly muscular boy with a smirk. "I don't know if you saw my girlfriend, but she's the one with the pigtails-"
"Oh, yeah! She's pretty vicious." Naruto laughed nervously. "Are you really okay with her...'attacking' me like that?"
The light air suddenly thickened, and everyone fell silent.
"Here's the thing, Naruto..." said another boy, standing next to him. "We can't really blame our girlfriend's for what they're trying to do."
Naruto backed away as the crowd of boys walked closer to him. "Okaaay."
"Because, well, it would be hypocritical knowing WE want some of that luck too."
Gaara's eyes switched from Naruto...to the guys...and to space in confusion.
The most wanted boy in school stood silently, and at first, very unnerving. He saw that familiar look each of their eyes and his chest tightened.
Naruto grabbed his backpack and ran away.
"GET HIM!"
The guys shoved and pushed the eyeliner kid out of the way as they rushed toward the blond boy with their highly predatory instincts. It would be harder to run away from the male population; they're faster, and school-wise, dumber...therefore more eager to steal Naruto's lucky kiss.
That's when he realized there is only one person who could protect him...
"Why did you call us here?"
"Isn't it enough that you got the guy? Just leave me alone."
"Let's just hear her out, alright?"
The girl with two buns on her head scoffed. "I never thought you'd be the reasonable one, Ino. Already found a new boy to play around with?"
Ino glared. "Listen, meatball head, you know as well as I do that I don't. play. around."
"Guys, can we just stop fighting for once." Sakura tried to disrupt the glaring match. "I really want us to be friends again."
"Why? So you can rub the fact that Naruto chose you in our faces?" Tenten spat.
"I'm sorry, but I can't be here." the purple haired girl shook her head and attempted to walk away.
"Hinata!" Sakura called out.
The white eyed girl faced her and frowned. "Sakura..." her voice broke. "I'll accept the fact that Naruto only has eyes for you. I'll even accept that he'll probably never love me no matter how hard I try." Sakura's eyes softened watching her former best friend's eyes water. "But I can't accept you as a friend." with one last look, Hinata turned around and walked away. "At least not for now."
Sakura's face fell in defeat as she watched Tenten rush out of the girl's bathroom (still without a single toilet).
"Aren't you going to storm out, too?" Sakura quietly asked the gossip-loving girl.
Ino exhaled a deep breath. "I'll be honest with you, Sakura." she said, watching the emerald eyed girl slump deeper into sadness. "I really like Naruto...I think I might even love him." she shrugged lightly, watching Sakura's expression change inconsistently from one emotion to another.
She opened her mouth to speak, and was rightfully interrupted.
"But I know you two are meant to be together. I was just ignoring it until now..." Ino admitted softly. "Hinata might not be able to accept you as a friend." she placed a delicate hand on Sakura's shoulder. "But I will." her small smile widened when she saw the shock on her best friend's face. "Believe it or not, I really miss you're enormous forehead."
"I miss you, too, Ino-pig."
They embraced affectionately, reunited once again.
Naruto weighed the pros and cons and intelligently decided it would be best to skip his last class for today. Constantly checking his facebook status, his wall was overrun by statuses of how his lucky kiss actually worked and that he'll come in handy for the final exams.
He wasn't a thing to be used, dammit!
Throwing his phone back into the backpack, he checked his watch and tapped his fingers impatiently on the bench. His current hiding place consisted of a small, abandoned courtyard in the back of the school building; the ideal place for a hideout, but he was pretty sure it was haunted...he swore he saw creepy eyes watching him from behind the bushes.
Sakura and Gaara better get here quick. He texted both of them twenty minutes ago! It wasn't that hard to find an abandoned, haunted courtyard in the back of the school!
Scared out of his mind, he quickly searched for his phone, regretting throwing it there in the first place. He opened it up knowing facebook will distract him from the 'eyes' that were watching him. He opened a new notification and to his surprise...
Sasuke accepted his request.
Naruto leaned against the bench, his eyes wandering into space. Teme's acceptance was clearly a very good distraction. He went on Sasuke's profile page and found that it was completely empty. Nothing written on his walls, still no info, still no picture. Nothing. All he saw were two names on his friend's list: Naruto himself...
and some guy named Itachi.
"Naruto? Naruto, where are you!"
He heard that familiar, soothing, feminine voice nearby and perked up, putting his phone aside. "Over here." he tried to whisper secretively.
When he saw her pink head peek out of the corner, his heart nearly jumped out of his skin in happiness.
"Why in the world did you pick this place to hideout?" she shivered, sitting closely next to Naruto on the bench.
He wrapped a tight arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.
"Did you know someone was murdered on this very spot?"
"Stop it, Sakura!" Naruto's eyes shook, searching for any sign of strange apparatuses. The one thing that frightened him the most, besides girls, were ghosts.
Gaara received the message shortly after scaring the bejesus out of the baseball team with the story about successfully drowning his older sister in a river and how her spirit occasionally rests within his body...
Actually, he embellished the story a little...or a lot; he really did try to drown his older sister once, but only to kill the spider crawling on her head...he hated spiders.
But they didn't need to know that.
Terrorizing the baseball team was a small pleasure he thrived on. For some reason, the people in this school didn't take him quite seriously with Naruto by his side; they were all friendly...until they would shout 'GET HIM', hunting the so called 'lucky charm' like wild dogs.
Gaara followed vague directions in the message and found himself staring outside into an empty courtyard.
No, not empty. He saw a blond haired boy tenderly holding a pink haired girl into his arms, whispering something into her ear. Gaara opened the door and stepped outside, standing closely to the corner of the building so no one would see him. He eyed the pink haired girl maliciously, thinking Naruto could do better than her. She may be beautiful, but it was all a facade. Her true colors lie within her blackened heart. Gaara knew it was too soon to judge, but...
He kind of hated her.
"If you're such a scaredy cat, why did you choose to hide in the haunted courtyard of all places?" Gaara heard her say.
She insults Naruto. Wasn't that reason enough to break up with her?
"It's abandoned, and I just thought-"
"Why are you so stupid?" she shivered from air's iciness, not exactly liking the situation they were in.
This bitch was seriously getting on Gaara's nerves.
"Sorry." he smiled apologetically.
The pink haired girl looked away, pretending to be mad. Soon enough, she gave in and smiled without looking at him. "Here." she pulled out a container from a brown paper bag and handed it to him. "I bought you something."
Naruto opened the container and looked at her surprise. "Red bean soup?"
"Mmhm!" she giggled when his face lit up.
"But...how?" Naruto watched her grab a plastic spoon from the paper bag. "The only place they sell this is..."
"Six towns away." Sakura teasingly stuck out her tongue. "Tsunade finally gave me the convertible." she winked.
Naruto looked down at his red bean soup, a luxury he hardly had the pleasure in eating. "You skipped class just to drive six towns away...to get me this?" he looked down on the little bowl of soup.
His girlfriend, the evil one who insults him, shrugged. "I found out about what happened in the cafeteria and figured you didn't get to eat much. Only an idiot would put on a poor disguise in a room full of luck-seeking girls."
Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"But you're MY idiot." she laughed at his colorful expression. "And for some reason, I love you."
Naruto grinned happily and dove his spoon right into the bowl of soup. "And for some reaosn, I love you too."
Sakura watched Naruto place his soup aside as he pulled her in closer. She closed her eyes and brought her lips to his. Moments passed, and they slowly separated, smiling radiantly at each other.
"You better watch your back though. I hear ghosts are attracted to red bean soup."
"Saaakuuuuraaaa."
Gaara closed the door quietly behind him and leaned against the wall, deep in thought. That demon girl was a confusing one...he just couldn't figure her out. Just like he couldn't figure the blond prankster out. Perhaps they were made for each other after all. Albeit she's an evil bitch,
she's an evil bitch who loves Naruto.
A small, genuine smile etched at the corner of Gaara's mouth. He lifted himself off the wall and walked away to give the couple their privacy.
As Naruto walked down the empty halls of Konoha high, he couldn't help but add a slight skip to his step. He also sported a new disguise, which this time, would be full proof: a silver haired wig, a black mask, and a 'borrowed' teacher's suit.
He was Kakashi-sensei!
This could be his greatest disguise yet.
"Dobe, why the hell are you dressed like that?"
Oh, shit.
He saw Sasuke Uchiha shut his locker and sling his backpack over his shoulder.
Naruto pulled the mask down and frowned. "Teme, how'd you know it was me?"
"Anyone with normal, functioning eyes could see it was you." Sasuke sarcastically remarked.
In total and utter failure, Naruto pulled off his wig and grumbled under his breath. "Aren't you supposed to be in Suna?"
The raven haired boy responded with a 'hn'. "I wouldn't stay in that wasteland if someone paid me a lifetime supply of tomatoes."
"Huh?"
Sasuke blinked. "What?"
"You said tomatoes."
"Not."
Naruto smirked teasingly. "Wow, Sasuke Uchiha actually likes something."
The Uchiha god rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he attempted to walk away.
"Wait." Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulder. "Why did you do it?"
Sasuke shrugged his hand off. "Do what?"
"Accept my friend request."
They both fell into an awkward silence; a very first for them.
Sasuke gracefully put his hands into his pockets. "I don't know."
"Sakura's not even on your list." Naruto frowned in confusion. "I don't understand. Why?"
The heartbreaker of Konoha high turned his head and faced Naruto. "Maybe for the same reason you added me."
Sasuke's eyes glanced suspiciously away from the blond boy. When Naruto realized his new 'facebook friend' was looking at something beside him, he turned his head and gasped in horror.
"Gaara!" Naruto stumbled backwards, desperately gripping his chest where his heart beat rapidly. "I told you to make noises when you walk!"
The red head ignored Naruto's complaints and stared blankly at the dark haired boy who possessed an equal amount of intimidation. It was almost as impressive as Pinky's. "You're Sasuke Uchiha." he stated rather bluntly. "The douche bag."
Gaara honestly didn't even know what a douche bag was.
Sasuke threw the unrecognizable boy a severe glare and turned to Naruto. "Who the hell is this freak of nature?"
"A new friend." said Naruto, recovering from his shock for the billionth time today. "This is Gaara, the student from Suna."
"Ah." Sasuke nodded, figuring this emo kid would have to spawn from an unwanted, hot, wasteland such as Sunagakure. "Go fuck yourself, Gaara." he said blatantly and walked away without a second glance.
Naruto and Gaara quietly stood side by side.
"Would you mind if I sliced his finger off with a piece of dental floss?" asked Gaara.
"You really have a thing for fingers, don't cha?" Naruto muttered. "Actually, I sorta would mind...for some reason, I think Sasuke's my semi-friend." he almost shuddered at the word.
"I dislike him a lot."
"Many people do, Gaara. Many people do..." the two slowly made their way toward Konoha's exit. "I bet Suna high isn't as exciting as this place, huh?" Naruto grinned.
Gaara had to admit...it definitely wasn't.
"So, what'd ya think?" Naruto loosened his tie.
"Specifically?"
"The teachers. The students. Everything."
Gaara thought deeply. "The teachers are laid back."
"Pretty true."
"The girls are scary."
"Very true."
"And I'm not going to lie...the guys are a little gay."
"Amen to that."
"But overall..." said Gaara. "Konoha high isn't half bad."
Naruto grinned brightly, throwing Kakashi's borrowed suit carelessly on the ground. "I'll definitely stop by at your graduation...maybe you could show me around Sunagakure."
Gaara nodded. "Sounds good."
"Great!" he said in excitement. "I'll even bring Sakura-"
"Okay, stop right there." said the most intimidating boy that ever lived.
"What?"
"I am NOT cool with Pinky spreading fear and despair upon my hometown. That's MY job."
"Are you afraid of her?"
"Obviously." said his new red headed friend without any shame. "She wants to kill me."
Naruto nearly busted his gut laughing. "It's true! But don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't lay a finger on you." Gaara resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
He definitely made a couple enemies at Konoha high,
but it was all worth it to make a friend like Naruto Uzumaki.
A/N: Lots of love to those who wrote me a review, I really appreciate it! :)
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
And just a quick announcement: the LAST chapter of Lucky Charm will be updated on it's anniversary, December 19th :)
Hope to read many of your last reviews :D See ya!