Learning To Love
Chapter Three: Rumors
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Rumors are started when people become jealous of you.
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POV
The bell rang and the science class emptied quickly. The school halls were crowded with students as they tried to get to their fifth period class on time. For Gaara and Naruto, third period was History with Asuma. As Naruto entered the room, he waved his hand in front of his nose. "Asuma, have you been smoking in class again?"
"No, Naruto." Naruto rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Gaara again. "Okay class, today we're moving onto World War Two-" Naruto tuned out the sound of Asuma's voice as he started thinking about Gaara. He never knew someone could be so quiet. Seriously, even Hinata talked more than him. 'Maybe he has social problems.' Naruto thought. 'Sasuke kinda did... That is, until I became his friend.' It's true, Naruto would not leave Sasuke alone until they were friends. Eventually, after three weeks of trying, Sasuke finally gave in. Gaara wouldn't be that hard, he knew that for a fact. Speaking of the redhead, Naruto turned his head to look at the boy. He was reading quietly, his head resting on his hand. The blond quickly turned away though when Gaara's eyes looked up at him. Well, hyper or not, the blond didn't want to be caught staring or anything. Then that'd be just awkward. So Naruto did the only thing he could do at the moment: fall asleep.
Naruto felt himself being shaken awake. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to see who it was. "Kiba?"
"Yeah?" The blond looked around the classroom only to find it empty. He then sat up quickly.
"Hey, where's Gaara?" Kiba rolled his eyes.
"Who cares?" Naruto sent his dog-loving friend and chibi glare. "C'mon. I told ya I'd tell you the rumors about him." The two friends got up and headed out the door and towards the auditorium. The auditorium was the second biggest building on campus, first being the gym. They dodged students who were trying to get to their own hangouts first, sometimes being accidently shoved off the path. When they finally reached their hangout, Naruto stretched his arms and legs until the cracked. He let out a breath and looked at Sasuke and Kiba.
"So there's rumors going around about Gaara?" He asked to get the ball rolling. At the sound of the name 'Gaara', Lee and Neji turned to look at Naruto.
"You mean Gaara Sabaku?" Lee asked. Lee currently wore a dark green t-shirt and black pants. Naruto usually called him bushy-brows cause, well, he had bushy eyebrows! Kiba nodded. Kiba himself was wearing his usual grey jacket and black pants.
"He moved here I think three years ago from Suna. His father is some hotshot in a huge company or somethin." Naruto rolled his eyes and motioned for Kiba to just move onto the rumors. "Rumors say that he cuts himself on his arms and won't talk to anyone. And the most popular rumor about him is: they say he's killed before." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Please, have you seen Gaara? He's the skinniest boy I've ever seen! He's like a twig. And yeah, he doesn't talk a lot, but that doesn't mean he's some kind of murderer."
"Naruto." Neji spoke up. This boy had long brown hair tied up in a low ponytail. He wore a beige colored shirt and shorts. "This is no laughing matter. We think it may be true that he killed someone before. Rumors also say he was kicked out of Suna High for 'mental' reasons. Not only that, when he moved here three years ago, a kid tried to pick a fight with him. They guy ended up with a broken nose and jaw. Then Sasuke tried to fight him. Gaara put him in the hospital for a month and a half." Naruto stared wide-eyed at Sasuke.
"He put you in the hospital?" Sasuke nodded.
"He broke three of my ribs, fractured my skull, and I think I had bruised a lung or something."
"That's why we don't want you hanging around him, Naruto. Yes, he may look weak, but he can take on two, maybe three guys at one time. He is someone not to mess with if you don't want to end up in the hospital." Lee commented. Naruto seemed to want to shake his head. "I also was stupid enough to try and fight him. He broke my arm and fractured my leg."
"So... this Gaara guy is actually... dangerous?" Naruto couldn't believe it. I mean, sure the kid wore eyeliner, never talked and always gave scary glares, but to actually kill someone? Gaara was pale, thin, and looked weak. There was no way he could actually beat up someone like Sasuke and Lee.
"Look, believe what you want, Naruto. But we're only giving you a warning. That kid is dangerous. It'd be best to stay away from him." The blond gave a deep nod. Whether he liked it or not, Naruto was gonna have to be wary around the redhead now. He picked up his bag before waving to his friends. We'll I gotta go to one of my classes early. See ya guys at lunch!" Naruto headed towards the gym where his next class was. On the way, he wondered if a certain redhead was in the same class.
Gaara's POV
The bell rang and I made my way to gym, my next class being P.E. I enter the building and notice the blond is already in his uniform warming up. I walk into the dressing room and switch into my uniform before anyone entered the same room. I entered the court and sat on the bleachers, waiting for the other students to enter the building. I notice the blond sit quite a ways from me, as if he was suddenly afraid to be near me. Good, it should be like that. He probably heard the rumors about me killing people. I can't blame him, I wouldn't want to hang around murderers either if I was normal.
Guy looks at me and gives me a thumbs up before saying, 'life been good for ya, Gaara?' I ignore him completely, as usual. I look up and reread what the author has written so far and think that it's terrible; she should rewrite it later. (Me: wow, thanks Gaara. I completely agree...) You're welcome author-san. Anyway, back to the gym. Most students have gotten in their uniform already, which is gray-blue mesh shorts and a green cotton shirt. It's actually a comfortable uniform, believe it or not. It's not like other articles of clothing that rub against your skin and irritate it, leaving red marks.
"Alright students! Everyone here?"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Lee answers, saluting his teacher. Hell, Lee and Guy look almost exactly alike. They have the same bowl-cut hairdo, same thick and fuzzy eyebrows and same youthful attitude. Only thing different is Lee's eyes are more rounder, like an owl's. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be father and son.
"Alright, jog (or run) ten laps around the gym, then do fifteen pushups and fifty sit-ups! Let's go, youthful students!" He blew the loud and obnoxious whistle, causing the students to start running. Half way through the first lap, a certain blond catches up with me.
"Hey Gaara." He starts. I know he's still nervous around me, I can hear it in his voice even though he tries his best to hide it. "Wow, you're pretty fast." He comments. Yes, I've always been fast, and strong. It's just no one notices me while I'm in P.E. Though I may be skinny, I'm still pretty strong. After all, I've never lost once in the thirty-seven fights that I've had. "Hey Gaara, could you do something for me?"
"What?" I know the kid one day and he's already asking me favors. Just great.
"When you're done painting that picture in your tablet, could I see it?" I'm slightly surprised he wishes to see my work when it's done. I didn't think the happy blond like such pictures of dying things in dark places.
"I'll have to redraw it on a canvas first before painting, so it might not be done till sometime next week." He grinned.
"Alright, thanks!" We hit our fifth lap already, ahead of the other students. "So, Gaara... Do you have any siblings?"
"I have an older brother and sister, both live in Suna still."
"Is your sister's name Temri? Or Temahi or something?"
"It's Temari. Why, do you ask?" I'm slightly curious of how he knows my sister's name, but I have a hunch it might be because of that lazy kid he hangs with.
"Shikamaru talks about her sometimes, since they're dating all." That's right, that lazy ass is dating my bossy sister. How they're still dating is still a mystery to me. "Um..." He looks around the gym looking for something to talk about, so I but in before he has a chance to say anything.
"You don't have to force a conversation with me if you don't want to. I'm much of a talker anyway." He nodded before grinning.
"I know, it's just I don't like the silence and all. Plus, I feel I always need to talk." I lay my eyes on him as me make seven laps.
"You know, don't you." I put it as a statement since I don't need to ask. His smile fell before he put his focus on the ground.
"I just don't believe them, but I'm a little curious to know the truth." His smile quickly returned as he looked at me. "But I'm not gonna let some stupid rumors get in the way of our friendship." I stop jogging as we finish our tenth lap.
"Why are you so insistent on me becoming your friend?" I ask, slightly angry and annoyed.
"Well I figured you don't hang with anyone one, you I thought you might get lonely sometimes."
"I don't need friends." I walk away from him to do my sit ups. Apparently the boy didn't like my last sentence for he didn't follow me. I finally do my exercises in wonderful peace, the only thing I wanted since the start of the school day. See, people like me (are there any other such people in the world?) need peace in our life; it's one of the few things we ask for. My stomach growls as I start my sit ups and sigh. I haven't had an actual meal in months, eating only the leftovers father leaves. I stand up and head to the locker room, but I got stopped by Guy.
"Gaara, have you done your pushups?"
"I hurt my wrist the other day, so I was wondering if I could be excused."
"Of course. I hope-" I block him out easily, something I've learned to do at six years old. As soon as he's done talking, I head into the locker room and shed my t-shirt. Luckily no one's in here, so I take the time to look over my chest. I can see a slight bruise on my chest where I felt pain earlier this morning. Also, the makeup I used to cover the cut near my eye is still holding up well. I put on my shirt and pants as the bell rang and the locker room filled with students. It was lunch time and I had nothing to eat as usual. I head to the tree I usual draw under, its near a field by the library; a place no students hang around. I open my tablet to the Sasuke picture and add little touch ups to it. I'd have to paint his picture too, even though it was a chibby picture I couldn't help but love the way the chickens pecked at the boys' eye. I look up and see Naruto heading my way, waving happily to me like I was his buddy. Oh joy.
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I know that sucked, just like Gaara said, and I will be redoing it soon. Hopefully anyway. So please leave a review if you liked it? Thanks for reading, if you did read it that is! ^^
IMPORTANT NOTICE! I need you guys to review a few things for me, since I'll be making an OC based on you're comments. She won't play a really big role in this. But I need you guys to review some of the following: eye color, hair color, name, scars (if you want) and body features. I will create the OC out of YOUR reviews! So if three of you say brown hair and two say blond, I'm picking brown cause majority rules. Thank you! :)