1:00 pm. At the mall.
"I think you're the mental patient here." Gaara says crossing his hands in front of his chest.
We ended up driving to the mall in utter silence. I honestly think both of us were too shocked to even question what just happened. I was cherishing the fact that I was still alive! Oh, also turns out I got a text from Sasuke and Kiba, both asking if I was okay. I just responded with a thumbs up emoji and left it at that.
"Me? Oh come on Gaara just try it on!" I say waving around a hot pink sexy cut dress.
We are currently standing in the middle of Macys and I'm trying to get Gaara to try on this dress.
"Why can't we go into the men's section?" He whines.
"That's 'cause we're waiting for Sakura to finish trying on the outfits she chose. Why don't we have some fun?"
I shove the dress in his hands and he jumps away like he just got burnt.
"I don't want to touch it!"
"Gaara it's a dress. It's not going to eat you." I start to laugh.
Never thought Gaara would be afraid of a dress.
Before I can attempt to persuade him further Sakura walks out of her fitting room. Her eyes widen at the dress I'm holding and I see a vein pop.
"I AM NOT TRYING THAT ON YOU PERVERT!"
She whacks me straight in the cheek and I stumble. She rips the dress out of my grip and shoves past Gaara, who leaps out her way not to touch the dress. I rub my stinging cheek. Man, this girl has got some power in her! Gaara snickers at me and follows Sakura. I shamefully trail behind.
"Sakura, it wasn't meant for you! It was for Gaara."
She whips her head around.
"You were going to put that on Gaara?!" She practically gasps.
I notice that she's trying not to laugh, but the corner of her lips slowly rise into a smile. Soon enough she erupts in laughter. Her laugh is contagious, and so I end up laughing as well. Gaara just stands there and rolls his eyes.
"Oh shut it. I'm sure I would have looked great in it."
He walks past us and we follow laughing even harder.
We follow Gaara into FroYo World. He grabs himself a big boy cup and begins to fill it up with just cookies and cream. On top of that he adds crushed Oreos and one strawberry. I look at his cup and then back at mine. His cup is overflowing. Sakura's has a bit of strawberry and mine is filled with mango, but when I said overflowing, I meant that the sides of Gaara's cup have froyo oozing down the side.
His total is 15 dollars.
15 dollars of froyo.
We are casually walking and within five minutes Gaara whips his froyo cup into the trashcan from across the room. And get this, it makes it. Several little kids applaud while Gaara cherishes his fame.
"Don't tell me you finished all of that?" Sakura asks.
"I don't waste food woman. What do you take me for?" Gaara puts a hand on his hip trying to look sassy.
I spit out my froyo laughing. Sakura is batting Gaara's shoulder playfully telling him to stop it before he attracts attention. My eyes glaze over the stores and I see my mom exiting Banana Republic with my dad! They think I'm at school, shoot! I grab Sakura's arm and haul Gaara into the nearest store.
"What are you doing Naruto?!" Sakura asks trying to squirm out of my grip.
"Hey! It's my favorite store!" Gaara exclaims ripping out of my grip and he runs to the underwear section.
With my fingers to my lips I hush Sakura and just let Gaara browse the store.
"My parents are here! They think I'm at school! If they see me I'll be in so much trouble!" I hide behind a manikin.
"Wait, where are they? What do they look like?" She looks out through the store window.
I point a shaky finger at my parents.
"This is bad…just rush to the back and stay there until they're out of view."
She ushers me to the back. I take a glimpse around the store.
We're in an emo store. No wonder it's Gaara's favorite store. A girl with bright green hair and heavy makeup strolls over to us.
"You need help?"
For a scary looking creature, her voice is pretty sweet.
"N-no we're just browsing." Sakura says smiling.
Gaara clears his throat from afar.
"Actually I need help." He comes over with a pair of boxers.
"Is this on sale?"
The lady happily helps Gaara, while Sakura and I pretend to browse around.
Soon the cash register clicks and we see Gaara with a satisfied smile. We make our escape out of emo central and my head and knees starts to hurt. I begin to limp a bit to ease the pain. Sakura and I throw away our froyo cups and we start through the mall again.
"Yo, if your parents are here do you wanna just go somewhere else?" Gaara says swinging his shopping around.
"My head is starting to hurt, I threw up today too, I don't really feel good." I rub my head.
"I have some advil do you want it?" He starts to look for the pills in his pants.
I don't want pills that are buried in Gaara's pants. Sakura notices my disgusted look and comes up with a better solution.
"Maybe you just need to sit down?"
"Oh, we could go to YogiBo. Follow me." He moves in front of us and leads us to the store.
The lady at the cash register greets us. The store is tiny, but it's littered with bean bags. After being seated for a few minutes the lady asks us with annoyance;
"May I help you?"
"No." Gaara firmly confirms. He stares at her until she begins to feel uncomfortable and leaves to the back room.
We sit there in silence and the whole rush of today hits me. Deidara and Suigetu's bickering, the ride to the mall, the police, the pancakes, finding my mom and dad here, and to top it all off I don't even have my pain killers with me. I sink deeper into my bean bag and close my eyes. My headache is pounding and I feel like throwing up. Not to mention the shooting pain in my knees is nowhere near comfort.
"I'll be right back." I hear Gaara get up and exit the store.
"Are you okay?" Sakura asks with worry.
When I don't respond she clutches my hand. I try to give her a firm squeeze but it suddenly becomes hard to scrunch my hand. It's as if all of my bones are acting against me.
"Naruto, please open your eyes."
The pain in my knees is becoming unbearable and I feel like at any given moment they might just pop off. My breathing starts to rapidly increase and soon enough I'm hyperventilating. The room begins to feel small and I start to sweat. I start shaking. My hands are quivering and I can feel my body trying to shut itself down. My breath is caught in my throat and I begin to suffocate. I'm gasping for air and my heart becomes heavy. My lungs become limp inside of my own body. The pain is unbearable, my body is burning. Just when I don't think I can take this pain anymore, numbness overcomes me. My arms and legs are drawn frozen. And just when I think I'm going to die of a heart attack, it dissipates. Regaining control never felt so good before.
I just lay there with my eyes closed and I can finally feel Sakura clutching my hand again. She's whispering.
"It's okay, I'm here."
She takes a shaky breath.
"I'm okay, we're okay, you're okay. Just breathe…just breathe." She says this time with more confidence.
We wait there in silence for a couple more minutes. I open my eyes and wait for my vision to focus. Gaara rushes in and shoves pills in my throat. He hands me a water bottle and commands me to drink. I gulp it down. The cold liquid slithers down my throat.
"What happened? What's wrong with him?" Gaara asks worried.
"I think he had a panic attack or something. I'm not entirely sure." Sakura says and I feel her eyes scanning me.
It's silent while Gaara and Sakura think of what to do next.
"Sakura, help me get him to my car." Gaara breaks the silence.
I feel my left hand pushed against Gaara's muscular neck and my other pushed against Sakura's. The walk to the car is agonizing and I support all of my weight on Gaara and Sakura. My eyes are still closed, and when I open them I'm in Gaara's car.
"You're finally awake." Gaara says looking me up and down.
I struggle to sit up in my seat. Gaara gives me a worried glance, but this time is actually paying attention to the road. I feel a lot better knowing he's focused.
"You had us so worried back there. Here drink this. How do you feel?" She hands me a water.
I don't want to drink it but I do.
"A lot better. Thanks you two." Sakura just smiles and Gaara grunts.
My head still hurts and I try to lean on the window, but Gaara grabs my shoulder and pulls me away from it.
"Don't lean on it. You'll get cut by glass."
I look at the window. It's shattered in pieces, there's blood all over my seat, and the chair fabric is coming off. What even happened here? Ever since that first day that I got into Gaara's car, he never once explained to me why his car is in such bad condition. And I never mentioned it before because…well it's Gaara. He's not really an easy person to talk to. To be completely honest with myself I don't even know Gaara's story. For goodness's sake, he could really be a murderer!
I break the silence.
"So Gaara, how'd you even become a mental patient?"
I look over to see him staring intently at the road. His knuckles are white as he clutches the steering wheel.
"I killed someone."
My blood freezes. I called it! He really is a murder! Sakura covers her mouth with her hands. We both stare at Gaara and wait for him to continue.
He shifts his weight uncomfortably and takes a deep breath.
"I was driving home from looking at colleges; it was about nine at night. We were about fifteen minutes away from home and I was talking to my mom about my scholarship. She was in the passenger seat. You see if I continued to play basketball I would get a full scholarship to any college of my choice. So, this was a pretty big thing to discuss. We were engaged in the topic and I didn't stop at a red light…and…and." Gaara's breath catches and the car slows down.
"A drunk driver slammed into the right side of the car. The car was sent flying and the engine blew up from the impact. My mom outstretched her hands to keep anything from hitting my face. I…I remember looking over at her. Her feet were crushed under the car's fallen dashboard. The fire from the engine was spreading and I quickly undid my belt buckle. I tried to pull my mom out, but she wouldn't move. I tugged and pulled but she wouldn't move." Gaara pulls over onto the grass.
"She was unconscience Blood was oozing down her forehead."
He looks down and I see tears trickling down his face.
"I kept pulling and tugging, but my efforts were put to a stop when fire completely engulfed her. I saw her skin burn, her hair sizzle off her head, I saw my mom burn right in front of me."
He grabs the fabric of his pants and clutches it. Tears are freely pouring from his face. His head whips around and he stares at both of us. Sakura turns pale white, and I'm shocked.
"I killed her!" He shouts.
"She's freaking buried six feet under the ground because of me!" His breath catches in his throat. He looks down and continues.
"My father wouldn't talk to me after the incident. Two days after the funeral, we were still fighting about her death. He was intoxicated. He took out all of his sorrow, his grief, his anger, on me. It was around eleven at night, when he started screaming at me. I screamed back. It was a full on fight. Soon enough he threatened to throw me into the afterlife. I don't get scared easily, but he freaked me out. I didn't know what to do. After, we engaged in a fist fight, I took the fight outside hoping to get away in our family's old car. I already had the keys. My dad nearly knocked me out on the floor and he went to get a bat, a gun, I didn't care. I trudged towards the car and opened the door when my dad saw me from inside; he opened the window, and shot me with a BB gun. The bullet went right through my shoulder and through the two glass windows in the front seat. Barely conscience, I drove myself to the hospital. I was suicidal for a good week. That's why I'm labeled as a mental patient." He takes a deep breath and relaxes a little.
"Gaara, I'm…I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I feel awful for bringing up old memories." I try to say something more, but I don't how to comfort him. I feel useless.
He looks at me and gives a weak smile.
"Remember that morning when we bumped into each other and I drove you to school?" He chuckles and wipes his tears. A sad smile forms on his face.
"I snuck out at night and I bought medicine." He pauses, "I was planning on killing myself by overdose that morning. You indirectly saved my life."
The car engine starts up again and we're on the road.
I am speechless. I saved his life? I literally just used him for my own selfish needs. I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair. This was way too much for me. The poor kid, he had a life…and he lost it just like me. I slump in my chair. That explains the blood, the ripped seats, the cracks in the windows, and Gaara's condition. Man, I feel so bad. I thought he was a serial killer, but he's just stuck in a hole and doesn't know how to get out.
In silence we drive to the hospital.
"Naruto, I can walk you to your room." Sakura says getting out of the car.
I hear Gaara's door opening and he swings out of the car. Both of them help me to my room in silence. They struggle to put me in bed. When my body is in a resting position the pain in my knees eases and I feel so much better. A nurse walks in and tells me that Granny will be here soon. Gaara takes a seat by the window and Sakura takes a seat next to me. It's so tense and sad. I feel like crying. I don't even have a headache anymore. I feel emotionally drained from what Gaara had just told me. Tears prick in Sakura's eyes as we both look at Gaara. Gaara just looks down and plays with his fingers. Maybe he's thinking that we don't like him anymore. Once again, I feel like crap.
"Since we're all sharing stories and all…I have one." She swallows and looks up at both of us. Tears glaze her eyes. Gaara looks up at Sakura understandingly. I gulp and prepare myself for whatever Sakura has in store for us.
She takes a deep breath and moves the small strands of loose hair away from her face.
"Well, I guess I have to start at the beginning. When I was in elementary school, my dad decided to leave us. My mother was devastated. I didn't realize what was happening, I thought he was going away on a business trip…something like that. Shorty after his departure, my mom fell into depression. It was hard. My mom had to work two jobs and the little time she was at home, she was too tried to hold a conversation with me. I was shoved into afterschool programs, sports, and finally I was pushed into a job. Fast forward, while I was at work, I got call from my aunt…my mom had a stroke and was in the hospital. I rushed out of work and when I got to the hospital the doctor's confirmed that she was in a coma. That was six months ago. I was forced to move out of my house and live with my aunt. I had to switch schools, quit my job, and start over. And in those six months my mom has become so fragile. She's on the border line of this world and the next."
Sakura clenches her fists.
"And in all those six freaking months my father hasn't even called! He hasn't even bothered to call, to visit, to even leave a freaking voicemail! Nothing. I've always had this small hope that I carried around in side of me, that my father actually cared about us. But it vanished. It's gone."
She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
"My mom woke up a few weeks ago. I was so happy to hear the news that I rushed here from school. I entered her room with the biggest smile on my face. I was able to have my mom back! But, that happiness soon turned to sorrow. She doesn't remember me…"
I run my eyes across her face. Her eyes are puffy, but no tears are spilling.
"She was diagnosed with amnesia. I come to the hospital every single day to remind my mom who her daughter is. And every day she asks the same question,' Who are you dear?'"
Sakura stops talking and takes a shaky breath.
My heart is in my stomach. After hearing these two stories, my cancer is like a walk in the park. It's nothing compared to what these two have to go through. I feel horrible for complaining about the fact that I have to live for cancer. I feel like a fool for valuing soccer over my life.
I look over at Sakura and see her slouched figure rocking slightly back and forth. Her white knuckles are gripping the sides of her chair. I place my hand over hers and look her in the eye.
"It's okay to cry, Sakura." My finger makes small circles against her knuckles to sooth her.
Her shoulders shudder and she gives in. Gaara leans his head back on the wall and closes his eyes. The look of pure sorrow is washing over his pale white face. I hold Sakura's hand firmly to remind her that I'm here. She places her other hand over mine and shakes her head in between gulps of air.
"I-I'm s-sorry." She manages to say before she erupts in another fit of tears.
My grip on her hand tightens a little. It's my only way of saying "It's okay" right now. I feel useless. No matter how many "it's okay's" Sakura and Gaara receive, it won't change what they're going through. It won't bring Gaara's mom back, it won't cure Sakura's mom's amnesia, it won't cure cancer. The three of us sit there in silence; the only noise audible is the sound of the soft rain.
Pitter Patter.
After about ten minutes of silence, someone walks into the room. And she makes quite an entrance.
At the sound of the door opening, Sakura flinches and immediately begins to wipe her tears away. I move my hands away from hers and look intently at the nurse who just ruined the moment. I've seen her before...but I can't put my finger on who she is. Her breathing is heavy, her hair is a brown mess, and she's holding a crumpled piece of paper.
"How do you always manage to find me woman?!" Gaara shouts and gives her an annoyed look.
She breathes heavily and I swear there is smoke coming out of her ears. She walks over to him and sticks the note in his face.
"HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE THE HOSPITAL WITHOUT PERMISSION?!" She gets right in his face and I'm pretty sure she's trying her best not to smack him.
Gaara just slouches in his chair and shrugs.
"I left you a note."
She undoes the crumpled note and reads it.
"Don't come looking for me. Signed, Gara." She puts her hands on her hips.
"You even misspelled your name! AND DON'T COME LOOKING FOR ME DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A PLACE!"
"I was in a rush."
The brunette is about to fume in anger and probably send Gaara to the next life, when Sakura interjects.
"Matsuri. It's okay, Gaara was just helping out a friend."
Matsuri relaxes a little bit and raises an eyebrow at Gaara.
"You have friends?"
Gaara fixes his posture.
"In fact I do." He points to Sakura and I.
"The blonde kid is Naruto, and the pinkette is Sakura." He says crossing his arms feeling accomplished.
"I know who they are okay? You just can't leave your room without supervision. You're mentally unstable." She recites the sentence like she's said it a million times.
"I think I'm pretty stable if I can drive a car and make my way around town." He fires back.
"Oh yah, about your little adventure, I got a call from the cops. They said something about speeding and waffle making? Ring a bell?" The look in her eyes is fierce and she's literally inches away from smacking Gaara.
I didn't know it was possible but Gaara turns even whiter than he already is.
"Alright, you caught me. I'm sorry, won't happen again." He mumbles the last part.
Matsuri looks satisfied. She relaxes a bit.
"Come on let's go to your room." She extends her hand.
"I can walk by myself." He avoids her eyes and stands up.
"Gaara, please last time you walked by yourself you ran out the hospital lobby." She shoves her hand in his hand and grips it tightly.
A light blush taints Gaara's cheeks as she pulls him out of the room.
Sakura sighs and turns to face her attention on me. I see her lips form a mischievous smile.
"I ship them."
"So hard, so hard." I finish the sentence for her.
The door to my room clicks open. And Granny walks in looking frazzled. Her hair is sticking up and looks as messy as ever.
"Um, I'll see you later I guess." She begins to leave.
"Yeah, come visit me tomorrow. I have chemo in this room."
I kind of don't want her to go.
"Yeah, bye." She exits the room quickly.
A small smirk plays on Granny's lips.
"So, what happened with you today?"
I explain to her what happened at the mall and she does the usual checkup. Turns out I felt the way I did today because I forgot to take my pills in the morning. She scolds me and tells me that my parents are waiting in the lobby.
"Don't forget to take your pills, and you have chemo tomorrow!" She yells as I rush out of the room.
Wednesday 1:20pm. Pottery class.
Just one more class and I'm out of here. Thank goodness. The whole pottery room smells like burning clay and it's making me feel kind of nauseous. Great, just what I needed.
After that trip to the mall, my knees have been really stiff. It hurts to walk and even sitting is quite agonizing. But, I didn't bother telling my parents, they worry to much already.
"Hey, Naruto are you even listening?" I turn my attention to Kiba who's clearly annoyed at my lack of attention.
"Sorry, uh what were you saying?" I mutter sheepishly.
He sighs and hands me the sketch he's been working on.
"Well, we're supposed to be making a bowl for this assignment. Here's my sketch. I'm thinking we go with a soup bowl but add some creative swirly fishcake designs." My mouth starts watering at the mention of fishcakes…mmm sounds like ramen to me. Kiba snaps his fingers to get me out of my daydream. "Dude seriously we have to get started class ends in 40 something minutes. We only have to finish the mold and put it in the furnace. Once we're done with that we have the whole period to do whatever." His annoyance is evident, but the hint of excitement twinkles in his eyes. Free perioed is like heaven for Kiba…since he has so much homework. I fix my slouching posture to show I'm all ears.
"Okay, so I'll mold the bowl and you start making small fishcake like figures out of the clay. Make like ten and then we'll see if we need to add more or not. Sound good?" He finishes feeling satisfied with his brilliant idea. I nod and get to work. Let's just say art isn't really Kiba or mine's thing…and my fishcakes might look like utter crap. It's times like these where I envy Sai and his stupid talent. Too bad he's partners with that piece of crap Suigetsu. My fishcakes are coming out sort of good and the bowl Kiba is working on isn't half bad. I get so wrapped up in my work that I don't even notice Suigetsu sit down next to me.
"You haven't showed up to soccer practice since that incident on Friday? What gives…scared?" He puts on a baby face and uses a mocking tone. I know he's just trying to aggravate me, so I shrug him off and focus on my work. He doesn't leave, but instead presses on with questions.
"Not gonna answer me, huh? Oh come on, the whole team knows you suck it's okay to quit. We won't miss you or anything." He says and begins to get up. I can't deal with this crap anymore. I'm about to protest by punching him in the gut when someone beats me to it.
"Suigetsu, knock it off will ya?" A raven haired boy says playfully, but the edge in his voice is crystal clear. Suigestu smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets.
"Hn, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? Naruto and I are just having a friendly chat. Aren't we?"He looks down at me with the fakest smile I have ever seen, even faker than Sai's smile. His shark like teeth glisten and I'm afraid to even look at those things. Sasuke keeps a stern look and just shrugs.
"Nothing, it's just not cool anymore. Let him be." He starts to head back to his seat when Suigetsu stops him.
"Are you and Naruto like friends now? Dude you've been acting really weird, ever since that game on Friday. I mean you sent Deidara and I in there to beat him up, and now you're acting like you haven't been bitter enemies for the past two years. What gives?"He spits the words out and the crease in his forehead deepens. He's frustrated I'm sure of it. I turn to my work and notice that Kiba is staring at me with his eyebrow lifted in confusion. I slump in my chair and try not to attract any more attention. But, Suigetsu and Sasuke are still at it. Kiba intervenes.
"You sent people to beat Naruto up?! Did you not see how sick he was after that game?!" Kiba practically yells in anger. Sasuke's cool composition falls and he looks around the room. All eyes are on him. Karin snorts from across the room and makes her way over.
"Of course he'd do that! Did you see Naruto's gameplay on Friday? He made the team lose, and even if he was sick he could have just gone home. I'm not into violence but he definitely deserved Sasuke is always right, he's a genius."She says with her head raised high and eyes twinkling. She almost looks proud of her little Sasuke. (Who's actually in a relationship). Karin folds her arms across her chest and looks at Sasuke for approval. Sasuke just stands there. His eyes are focused on Karin, but I notice that his mind is somewhere else. He doesn't want to make a scene…he doesn't want to admit his mistakes. Typical.
I continue to make the pathetic looking fishcakes and bite my tongue not to yell at all three of them. Do they not notice that I'm literally a seat away? Kiba pounds his fists on the desk which makes all of my fishcakes jump and completely fall apart. I groan and bury my face in my hands attempting to escape this situation.
"So what he made the team lose?! He was sick and in awful condition! One game won't kill anyone, we still have so many more to play. Karin you're not even on the freaking team." He moves his glare to Sasuke. "And you. How could you just beat Naruto up?! You could have been responsible for his death…man did you even see how sick he was?! He could barely stand Sasuke…let alone fight." His voice escalates and the growl at the back of his throat is intimidating. Sasuke's eyes widen as the whole class begins to whisper and Kiba's intent look is so intense that Sasuke might just be burned alive. I look around the room and see that Hinata's face is pale white. Guess she doesn't know her boyfriends true colors, huh? Sasuke tries to remain calm, but I can tell he's nervous as heck.
"I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't have sent them to beat him up, but I was upset that he had done so poorly. I was selfish, sorry." He mumbles the last part and I can tell that just saying all of that took a lot of effort. Everyone falls silent. Sasuke Uchiha doesn't apologize, and especially not in public. The room goes silent and for the first time, in a long time, a certain purple haired girl speaks up.
"I didn't know you had this violent side to you Sasuke?" Hinata says poison seeping into her voice. Sasuke's face turns even whiter and he gulps. Hinata comes over to Karin and all eyes are on her as she maneuvers through the room. "And you missy," She points her finger at Karin and gets in her face," Stop acting like Sasuke is your boyfriend. You do realize he's taken right? Or would I have to makeout with him right in front of you for you to get the hint." She says sweetly, but the evil within her is forming a scary aurora. Sasuke turns bright red at the mention of making out and Hinata takes a deep breath before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She glares daggers at Sasuke.
"We talk about this later."And with that the Hyuga throws a pass down on the teacher's desk and exits the room. I never knew the shy little quiet girl had so much venom inside of her.
Karin looks annoyed, Suigetsu is pretty much crushed, and Kiba looks pissed. Hinata is basically going to breakup with Sasuke now, everyone in the school probably hates my guts, I feel like crap, and to top it all off I'll be dead in like a few weeks. All of the possibilities litter my mind and I realize that's it I can't do this anymore. I feel bile rise up in my throat. All the stress is finally getting to me. I try to swallow it down, as gross as that might sound, and barely choke out an audible sentence.
"Stop…please." My voice sounds so faint and weak. I hate it. I push my chair back and close my eyes. The sudden movement blurs my vision and black dots move around where Kiba is standing. The feeling of faint is itching its way into me. I can feel everyone's gaze follow me as I double over by the waste bin and vomit leaks out of my mouth. My knees make a loud crack and the pain rips through my body. The teacher finally decides to intervene. She tells someone to go find the extra trash bags in the supply closet. Yeah, cause trash bags will definitely fix this hole I'm stuck in. I grip the sides of the trash bin and pull myself up. I look to my side and see Kiba with paper towels. Thank goodness I have one friend in this class. He helps me to my feet and I wipe my mouth with the paper towel. Everyone looks kind of horrified and I can't help but laugh. They're scared that I threw up? Really? Just moments ago they were all against me. Funny how things change.
"Naruto, are you okay?" Kiba asks worriedly.
I rip my hand away from Kiba's grip and lift my eyes to meet the class. Our class is small so pretty much everyone is staring. I wobble over to Suigetsu and his posse and almost fall onto him. He backs away and the look on his face is priceless. I use all of my strength to fire at him.
" No, I'm not okay. I feel like I'm going to pass out at any given moment, my head has been pounding all day, I just threw up in front of everyone, and I have chemo later today in some crappy hospital room, oh and to top it all off I have cancer. So no, I'm not okay. Maybe, it's time everyone finds out, because I don't think I can take this anymore. If I have to live the rest of my life, which probably won't be for too long, getting ridiculed by some idiots I might as well just throw in the towel. I. Have. Cancer. Now leave me the heck alone." I catch my breath and stumble back a little. My knees are barely able to keep me standing up straight.
Suigetsu's eyes widen and I hear a gasp escape from Karin.
"A-are you serious?" He says, his voice shaky.
"Dead serious." Oh the irony. I sit down and try to calm myself. People begin to whisper and I'm just hoping this day will be over soon.
"Loser, you can't be serious. You don't have cancer, please. Like I'll believe that." He laughs a bit and seems to relax.
"Yeah, why aren't you bald?" Karin joins Suigetsu's rampage.
"Guess I'm just lucky." I retort. I really can't win with these two.
She eyes me up and down and backs up a bit, as if to get herself out of this mess.
I really don't have time for this. Kiba comes over and sits down next to me.
"You have cancer? I-I thought you just had the flu or something. Dude, I'm so sorry." The sincerity in his voice makes me feel a little better. But still…
"It's okay, whatever Kiba."
Once people begin to realize the situation I hear questions coming from all sides of the room.
"Wait, are you dying?"
"How long have you had it for?"
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Maybe he's lying…"
That's it. All these questions are flung at me and I just want to escape. I'm in pain, mentally and physically. I feel like I just made the situation a lot worse. I bolt out of the room and run to the parking lot. I spot my car and race over to it, all the questions still ringing in my ears. I burst into the driver's seat. I'm panting, my palms are sweaty, and I feel like crying. Biting my tongue I force myself to calm down, but I can't help the hot tears stinging my eyes. I press down on the bridge of my nose and sigh. Forcing the tears back, I think of a plan. I'm obviously not going home early, I don't want to go to the hospital, and hanging out with Gaara really isn't on my to do list today. I grip the steering wheel and start the engine. I'll just drive around and see where I end up.
Half an hour goes by and I'm walking through the doors of McDonald's. The stench of grease and cigarettes is overpowering. I bat at the air trying to get the scent away, no luck. As I ponder over what to order I hear a familiar voice call my name.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?"
I look over and see a pinkette dressed in McDonald's work attire. Her hair is up in a messy bun and she looks exhausted.
"Sakura?" I say in surprise. Since when did she work here? She rolls her eyes at my surprised tone.
"Yes it's me. Now, are you going to order or not?" She raises an eyebrow and leans on the counter. I awkwardly laugh and place an order.
"Just a McFlurry please."
…since when did I order McFlurries?
"Coming right up!" She says her voice bubbling with that fake cheery tone. She punches in the order and I hand her the money.
"Since when did you work at McDonalds?"
She sighs and puts the money in the cash register.
"Well, I need money so I have a job." She states as a matter of fact. I get the hint that she doesn't want to explain further and I leave her to get my order. I watch her fill up my drink. Just by her body language I can tell she's absolutely exhausted. The back of her neck is a bit damp and her hair is sticking to it. Poor girl…how long has she been working for? She finishes pouring the rest of the content into the cup and hands it to me.
"Here you go. Have a nice day." She smiles at me. I look behind me and see that there is no one else in line.
"Hey, Sakura…do you want to sit down with me? You look exhausted."
She sighs and wipes her brow. She looks a little...relieved.
"I guess so. I can take my lunch break now." She takes off her apron and yells to no one in particular that she's taking a break. We move to a booth by the window. Once we sit down I notice Sakura basically slumps in the chair. She relaxes immediately and smiles at me.
"Thanks for this. I don't know how much longer I could handle standing there." She crosses her legs and rests her head on her propped up hands. I return a small smile and rub the back of my head.
"Well, you looked absolutely exhausted…figured you'd need a little break. But, what are you doing working at this time? Shouldn't you be in school?" I take a sip of my McFlurry and raise an eyebrow at her.
"I'm homeschooled. So I can just do my assignments after my shift." She shrugs and shifts her weight. Homeschooled? That's actually sweet.
"I'm jealous." I pout and she laughs. "Trust me, you don't want to be homeschooled by my aunt. She's the most intense person you will ever meet." She fake gags and we both laugh a bit.
"You should meet my dad. When it comes to school work he's way to serious…and my lack of intelligence doesn't help." I laugh nervously remembering all the past memories of him shoving math books into my hands and making me read them and recite every single equation fifty times in front of him. Yet, I still came home with my highest grade being a C. Let's just say I didn't see my phone for a good month.
I slirp my McFlurry. I enjoy Sakura's company. She's a sweet girl and doesn't think my cancer is some sort of taboo. She's actually really pretty, now that I can take the time to look at her. The first time I met her all I could think about was not getting killed in Gaara's car. I shiver at the thought of that day. She notices my expression and raises an eyebrow.
"You okay?" She's trying to play it cool, but I can see she's worried I'm having another panic attack.
"Yeah, just thinking about the first day I met you…and that car ride." I scrunch up my nose and continue slurping.
"Oh, yeah that was really something." She shakes her head and we both try to force the memory out of our minds.
"So, Sakura, I was thinking maybe we should hangout tomorrow." I say grinning.
"Hmm, I'll have to check my schedule…." She says holding out the sentence and pursing her lips. She notices my look of disappointment and laughs. "I'm just joking, I'm free. What are we going to do?" She asks tilting her head to the side. Her hair falling onto her face a little and her forehead crease intensifies a little as she thinks of a plan.
If that's not the cutest thing I have ever seen I don't know what is.
I clear my throat and shuffle for ideas. "Why don't you just come over? I'll invite Gaara and Matsuri too since the more the merrier right?"
"Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad. Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow?" She says sliding to the end of her seat.
"Um, wait Sakura can you give me your number?" I ask sheepishly. She smiles at my sudden shyness and grabs my phone. After punching in the numbers we say our goodbyes and with that she leaves and returns to her shift. I can't help but feel really excited about this whole thing. I haven't had friends over my house in years, ever since Sasuke ditched me. Well, besides the occasional hang out with Kiba, but it was usually at his place or the mall.
I exit McDonald's and head to the hospital not realizing that the whole time she was giving me her number the slightest hint of red was plastered on her cheeks.
Author's Note: Hey hey hey! :D omg you guys are spectacular...honestly all the amazing reviews really help me sooo much! I'm really glad to see you guys are taking a liking to Gaara! xD I know he's a bit OOC but I think his character is funny and I love writing all the crazy spotaneous things he does. And so I've been doing my research on the type of Cancer Naruto has. Hopefully I'm doing a decent job with it, it's very difficult as I'm writing from someone with no experience. Sorry if it's not on point! Alsoo any suggenstions for the next chapter? I'm kind of in a pickle as of what to write. Until next chapter...toodles~