I just realized that my other fic, Scars, is really neglected. I would appreciate it if some of you would read it. I warn you, it has a lot of emphasis on my OCs and the lemons are a little rush. It was my first fic and I was a little awkward. So please read it and review.
"You're Gaara's brother?" Naruto asked, staring at the red-head with his blind eyes. He didn't remember anything about Gaara having a second older brother. "He never mentioned you."
"That's because he hates me. His mom had an affair, I was the product. I'm the oldest of the four of us."
"And you're telling me this because?" Naruto asked, turning back to his ramen and digging in.
"Gaara wants to see you," Sasori said, still facing the blonde. Hinata had also turned away from him, just so she couldn't see those angry eyes.
"When?" Naruto asked, his mouth filled with noodles so that it came out distorted.
"Today, around three," Sasori said reluctantly. He was hoping that Naruto would have turned it down.
"Tell him I'll be there as soon as I can," Naruto said. He heard the screech of the stool against the floor as it was moved back, then listened to Sasori walk out.
"You almost done, Hinata?" Naruto asked, downing his broth. Hinata jumped then slurped up the last of her noodles. She put payment on the counter and waited for the change before leading Naruto out of the store. They found a hair salon and Naruto got his hair cut, the man gelling it into thick spikes. By the time he was done it was ten to three.
"Any clue where he lives?" Hinata asked, hailing a taxi.
"One Suna road," Naruto said to the driver, sitting back in his seat. The taxi lurched under him before sliding into a lane and finding its way to Suna Road. When the taxi stopped Naruto pulled out money, waiting for the change.
"Hey, you owe him another ten dollars," Hinata said, watching the transaction. The cabbie frowned and gave Naruto a ten.
"Cheating bastard," Hinata huffed, helping Naruto out of the car. Naruto froze, gaping at her. "What?"
"I've never heard you curse before," Naruto said in awe. Hinata's face turned beet red.
"Well, I was very upset," she mumbled, pulling Naruto towards the tall, black gate surrounding the tall home. She pressed the intercom.
"Hello?" a pleasant female voice said.
"Uzumaki Naruto is here to see Gaara," Hinata said into the intercom, waiting for a response. There was a short pause then a buzzing sound.
"Come on in," the voice said as the gates swung opened.
"Just as dramatic as always," Naruto said, shaking his head. He and Hinata walked up the path together, Naruto opening the door to allow Hinata through before closing it behind him. A man in a black suit led them up a spiral staircase and down several adorned corridors before opening a door for them. Hinata instantly recognized the red-headed boy sitting in an overly-stuffed chair, a blanket thrown across his lap. His blue-grey eyes stared at her as if she were an unwanted guest, then stared into the misty one of Naruto's.
"Please," Gaara said, his voice hinting at venom. "Take a seat." It was clear that he didn't want Hinata to stay so she helped Naruto into a seat then walked out into the hallway to wait.
"Who was that girl?" Gaara asked in a conversational tone. Naruto almost believed that Gaara wanted to know.
"She went to our school, she's a friend of mine helping me get around town," Naruto said stiffly. He didn't like the atmosphere of the room, it was definitely hostile.
"It's good to have you back, Naruto," Gaara said, still using his fake-sincere tone. "I saw your parents the other day; they were a little worried about you."
"Stop beating around the bush and ask what you wanted to ask," Naruto said, clenching his fists at the mention of his parents. The politeness dropped out of Gaara's voice immediately.
"Why did you leave, Naruto?" Gaara asked. Naruto could hear the loathing in the red-head's voice. "Did you think we would hate you? Did you think someone would set out to kill you? Did you think you could hide from us?" the last one was said with a sneer, Naruto could hear it in his voice.
"Why I left is none of your concern," Naruto said coolly, rising to his feet as if to leave. "If all you're going to do is bother me with these silly questions then I'm leaving, I have a house to clean." There was a hollow sound and a firm hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Why'd you leave without explaining it to me, Naruto," Gaara asked, pushing the blonde back down into the seat. "You could have at least told me. I had to find out through your parents. Do you know how much that hurt?" Gaara asked, his fingers digging into Naruto's shoulder.
"That's how everyone found out," Naruto reminded him.
"But still…you should have told me," Gaara said. Naruto could hear the despair in his voice.
"Gaara, it's not like we were dating," Naruto reminded him.
"But I was your best friend. I was worried about you. I thought maybe you had killed yourself or something. Then I had to deal with that idiot bothering me about where you were, why you wouldn't answer your cell phone."
"All of this was two years ago, Gaara, don't tell me you're still bitter?" Naruto said, smirking slightly.
"You still haven't gotten your smile back," Gaara noted, watching Naruto. "No matter how blind your eyes are, I can still see your heart with them. You never did manage to leave the crash site. It's what those kids said, isn't it?" Gaara asked. He sat on the couch beside Naruto, looking at his friend. Naruto shook his head, making the golden spikes shiver.
"No, lots of people have called me worse than what they called me. It's…what the old man said. 'Living with it is punishment enough.' It's scary, he was right. It would have been so much easier to be punished, to get yelled at and kicked and beaten, to have hit my head a little harder, to have died…" he trailed off, staring into space.
"Did Sasori make the leg for you?" Naruto asked, looking at Gaara. The look was unnerving; the eyes looked like they belonged to a ghost.
"How'd you know?" Gaara asked, reaching down and touching the smooth wood of his leg. He wasn't mad at Naruto anymore, it was hard to be mad at someone who was so broken up inside.
"He smelled like wood," Naruto said, shrugging. "And so do you."
"He's a carver, he makes sculptures and puppets for a living," Gaara said. "Where have you been staying?" he asked.
"The winter house, it's almost the end of the month, they'll realize I'm there," Naruto shrugged. "How's everyone else?"
"They're good," Gaara said with a shrug. "Kiba came to after you left; there was nothing wrong except for his broken leg. We all went to Tobi's funeral; his parents didn't blame you for anything. Chouji lost a lot of weight. Deidara started speaking again at the beginning of last year. They all miss you," Gaara added.
"Think they'll feel up to coming to see me?" Naruto asked, still staring into the distance.
"I can ask them to come," Gaara asked. He was itching to ask the question hovering in his mouth, but he didn't want to upset his friend.
"How's he doing?" Naruto asked, still a little spacey.
"He's good, the constructive surgery was finished and he looks just like he did before. But he doesn't smile any more."
"He didn't smile to begin with," Naruto reminded him, trying to laugh.
"Why don't you go home?" Gaara said, standing up and holding his hand out for Naruto to take. Naruto stood as well, letting Gaara lead him to the door.
"You still have the same number?" Naruto asked at the door to the large house, Hinata standing at his side.
"Yeah, feel free to call whenever you want," Gaara said, smiling slightly at his friend.
"Will do," Naruto said with a nod. "Come on, Hinata, we still need to finish cleaning."
It was late when the finished cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming the rooms. Naruto told Hinata where to find the linens and helped as best he could with making up the beds. Naruto was in his old room, he could still remember what every inch of it looked like. He walked about, unable to sleep, feeling around his room for the things that had been there two years before. His dresser, the bedside table with the fox lamp, his desk, he stopped there, sitting in the chair and rummaging through it. He found his old notebook, the one he had written stories in since he was a child. There were several more in the desk, spiral notebooks written in pen. He sighed, running his fingers over the smooth sheets. He wished he could read them the way he used to, rediscover the characters. The stories had been his way of writing a diary, infusing tiny parts of himself into each of the characters, helping him to understand the things he had done, what he would do. He felt lost without the stories, like he didn't know who he was anymore. He jumped when the phone in his room rang. He picked it up with fumbling fingers, his heart racing.
"Hello?" he asked when the receiver was against his ear.
"Oh, thank god it's you Naruto. We thought someone had broken into the house," the male voice on the other end was relieved. Naruto sighed, it was his father.
"Why didn't you tell us you were home?" his father asked, his voice almost hurt.
"I wanted it to be a surprise?" Naruto said uncertainly. "Is mom there?"
"You know he hates it when you call him that," his father scolded.
"Yeah, well, I'd call you mom too if you were always uke. He's a screamer too," Naruto said, laughing. He was relieved to hear his father laugh as well.
"Right, I'll put him on the phone," there was a rustling sound as the mouth piece was covered, then a muffled yell. "Iruka, Naruto wants to talk to you!" there was a click as a second phone was activated and a tirade of yelling.
"Naruto, why didn't you tell us you were back? Why didn't you come and say hello? Do you know how worried we've been? Why don't you ever call or write? Mmf…mmph….mmm…." Naruto repressed a laugh. There was no doubt in his mind Kakashi had gone up and given Iruka a good reason not to yell. After a few more beats of silence Iruka was back on the phone, a little breathless.
"Would you like to come over for breakfast tomorrow? Tsunade and Jiraiya are up and I'm sure they would love to see you," Iruka said.
"Sure, is it okay if I bring my friend with me, she's the one helping my find my way around. Her name is Hinata."
"Didn't she used to go to school with you?" Kakashi asked from another line.
"Yeah, she moved into the apartment next to mine last year."
"Sounds like a stalker to me," Kakashi muttered. There was a soft thwacking sound.
"Be nice," Iruka scolded. "We'd be glad to have her over a well. Any friend of yours is–"
"Likely to hate us," Kakashi interrupted. "Didn't your other friends hate us?"
"Not really, they treated everyone like trash. It was their way of showing respect, I think."
"Right, we're looking forward to seeing you," Iruka said, stifling a yawn. "Sleep well, Naruto."
"You too, mom," he hung up before Iruka could yell at him, smiling as he got up and crawled into his bed. For the first time in two years he wasn't haunted by his dreams of the children yelling at him and the screech of tires as the drivers tried to avoid collision. He was instead haunted by his ex-boyfriends face, his voice, his words.
"I love you…Let's go to the party…One won't hurt…Let's dance…LOOK OUT!" The fragments kept tumbling over one another in his head until they became nothing but a deafening roar bouncing around in his head.
"Naruto…?" the voice was different, light, concerned. He strived to find it, reaching for the small speckles of light in the distance. He came out of the tide of words, gasping for air as his eyes opened. He had felt them open, but he still couldn't see, was he still dreaming? No, you idiot, you're blind. He reminded himself. He reached a hand out into the air and was surprised to feel something. It was fleshy and soft. He ran his fingers over it; Hinata's face being painted by his touch.
"Naruto?" He felt her lips brush his thumb. She still looked like she had in high school, except her face had lost some of its roundness.
"You grew your hair out," Naruto noted, sitting up so that he could feel its softness. He could feel her scalp heating up and smiled. "Mom and dad invited us over for breakfast. What time is it?"
"It's seven thirty," Hinata said, glad that he had stopped touching her. She was afraid she might faint.
"Why are we up so early?" he asked, getting out of bed and stretching.
"I thought you might like to take a shower," she said, smiling at him.
"Are there already towels in there?" he asked, walking to the door.
"Yeah," Hinata said, watching him. "Let me know when you're ready to leave." She was glad he couldn't see, she was walking around in the robe she had packed, and the tie had come undone, her breasts nearly spilling out. When she heard the shower running she ran to her room and got dressed, a black tank-top with fishnet sleeves and a pair of blue shorts. She had pulled her hair back into a pony tail and was waiting by the front door when Naruto came out of his room. She felt as if she had had the breath knocked out of her. He was wearing a fishnet shirt, baggy pants with dozens of clips and chains, and he had piercings adorning both of his ears, five on each. His hair was gelled into thick spikes like it had been the day before, but it had a totally different effect. A chain hung around his neck, two black foxes hanging on it, making a yin-yang sign. She noticed that he had a lip ring on the left side of his mouth, a black-and-white ring piercing his eyebrow.
"N-Naruto?" Hinata asked, unsure if it was really him. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"This is what they were afraid would happen to me if I ever left. This is the only real one," he added, touching his left earlobe where an earring hung. It was a fourteen-point gage with a blue ball sealing the loop, wisps of white disturbing the midnight color. "The rest are fakes, they look real?" he asked, smiling.
"Yeah," Hinata said, smiling as well, "But you're not done. Stay here." She went into her room and came back out with eyeliner, caking it thickly around each of his blind eyes. "Perfect."
"I wish I could see it," he said, laughing as he pulled on an orange hoodies and walked out of the house, Hinata locking up for him. They hailed a taxi and Naruto gave the address, smiling the whole way there. The minute they got to the house, though, his face became a mask of anger. For a moment Hinata was worried, but he flashed her a quick smile before paying the cabbie and getting out of the taxi, jamming his hands into his pockets and slouching as he waited for Hinata to come around the side of the car. Together they walked up to the door of the summer home, Naruto knocked loudly. There were muffled shouts from inside then the door opened to reveal a brunette with a long scar across the bridge of his nose. He took one look at Naruto and yelled in disgust.
"What happened to my baby?" he cried, pulling a stiff Naruto against him and crying. "I told Kakashi not to let you go, that this was what would happen to you. I saw it in those books of yours."
"What are you yelling about?" Kakashi asked, appearing behind Iruka in the doorway, seeing only Naruto's spiky hair. "He looks the same to me." Naruto pulled his face away from Iruka's chest and looked at Kakashi with his pale eyes. Kakashi was able, barely, to mask his surprise.
"Come on inside," he said, stepping aside so that the others could cross the threshold. Iruka was the first to cross, having finally let go of his son, followed by Naruto then Hinata. The door closed and Kakashi led the way to the large dining room. They were all sitting around one end of the table when Naruto finally did introductions.
"Hinata," he said, his voice stiff. "These are my parents, Iruka and Kakashi. Mom, dad, this is my friend Hinata." Iruka was about to say something but Naruto had already turned away from them. "As you can see, there's no way they could be my real parents. My parents put me up for adoption just after I was born. Iruka saw me wandering around the streets and adopted me." He shrugged.
"It's very nice to meet you," Hinata said, smiling at them both. "You did a good job raising your son."
"Obviously not good enough," Iruka mumbled, earning a nudge from Kakashi.
Wow, two days! That was fast. I'm gonna stop writing for a while, though, I really want people to read Scars. If you like it I also encourage you to read KABBS (Konoha All Boys Boarding School). I'll start writing again after I get a few more reviews. Till then enjoy the sweets! –passes out boxes of chocolates and cookies–