Disclaimer: If it was mine, there would be smex every chapter… Which would also mean almost no plot development but, eh… MEN SMEX would be worth it! XD
Pairings: SasNar, maybe some others later on
Warnings: Mature language, a character death later on, and there is going to be some hardcore YAOI, yo! There, you were warned. If you are queasy about same-sex relationships or don't like foul language, there is a back button for a reason.
2: The Insanity of Teachers
Naruto had stomped out of school no where near happy. During the last three periods, despite his attempts, Gaara and Sasuke were constantly bickering.
That alone he could have handled.
But he found that his one teacher—Kakashi—was quite a fan of the poorly-written books that had Icha Icha Paradise written in neat, slanted scrawl at the top. It just so happened that the blond was well accustomed to these particular books—despite the fact that they were strictly for those eighteen and over—due to the fact that his deranged uncle authored them (the uncle that was lost in the world somewhere doing 'research' and hadn't been heard from in well over twelve years). Naruto had kept his mouth shut about that one, however. The last thing he wanted was some annoying teacher harassing him for an autograph or a free sample of any new books in the series. Especially since he had only met his uncle once when he was not but four and that was merely to be told by Jiraiya that Naruto couldn't-be-taken-in-at-the-time-sorry-but-I'm-really-tight-on-money-at-the-moment.
The blond sighed for what had to be the umpteenth time that day. Sometimes his life really sucked.
"What's wrong?" Gaara murmured as they walked away from the building Naruto dubbed a personal hell.
He shook his head. "Nothing… Oh, Gaara, we're going to have to make a personal night for just the two do us to do something. Wanna go to an arcade or something?" he suggested. However, at the look he received, he continued, "Or not… Okay, how about we go for ramen?"
"Eating ramen is your sense of fun, not mine," the red-head pointed out waspishly.
"Jeez, no need to be so polite." Naruto frowned before sighing—once again. "That leaves me with nothing… Unless…" Gaara didn't like the tone the blond was using—though he wouldn't admit it, it made him slightly nervous. Not even a god could tell what went on in the brick-thick head that belonged to the boy. "We have a movie night!" he cried excitedly. "With popcorn and candy and carbonated drinks and—"
"I would rather have a slumber party with the Uchiha," Gaara groused, jade eyes narrowing slightly at both of the thoughts.
Naruto looked put out. "It's not that bad an idea."
The look he received from the other boy told him otherwise.
He pouted before jumping. "Oh, I need to get home before… otousan gets there. Later, ne?"
"Mm," he hummed, lifting his had in a form of a wave.
The blond was barely out of view before Gaara frowned and his deep green eyes flicked over to his right. "What do you want, Uchiha?" he growled.
"Nothing," came the smooth reply as Sasuke, the Ice Prince(ss) himself, casually walked out from behind the thick pillars of the entrance gate.
"Bullshit," the redhead swore.
"Quite an interesting character," Sasuke mused as his eyes flicked over to where Naruto had been standing not more than a minute ago.
Emerald eyes glared at the raven. "Keep your hands away from him and don't even bother trying to talk to him," he growled. "He has nothing to do with us."
The Uchiha gave an amused chuckle. "I don't need him to have anything to do with 'this' to talk to him."
"Leave him alone," Gaara growled again, bristling slightly.
Sasuke looked like he was actually thinking about that for a second before he replied, "I won't bother him." The tone he used suggested he was almost insulted at that. "But when he comes to me begging for something, you better not do anything to dissuade him."
Gaara snorted. "He'll never have anything to go begging to you for."
Sasuke smirked as he turned to leave. "I wouldn't say that," he murmured to himself.
Despite the fact that he had mumbled that, Gaara's perceptive ears picked it up and his jade orbs narrowed menacingly. A sharp outtake of breath hissed between his teeth as he tampered down the temptation to bash something in—like the damn guy's skull. "You'll leave him alone or I'll definitely have to hurt you."
The raven merely hummed a "hn," and turned, leaving.
Naruto was nearly holding his breath as he unlocked his front door. He was hoping that there was no one home yet. Maybe his luck would hold out.
He pulled his key out of the door and turned the knob only to have it groan loudly in protest—too loudly for his liking—making the blond freeze. He half expected a neighbor to open a window and shout, "Turn off that door!" Taking a deeper breath, he pushed the thick wooden slab open with a rough push. Chewing on his bottom lip, he resisted another wince as it gave an angry squeak. Cue angry neighbor calls.
But—it was dark inside…
He gave a relieved sigh. They weren't home.
Naruto stepped in and slammed the door behind him. He then slipped out of his shoes and climbed up the stairs to his room.
While the couple who had taken him in weren't awful, strict parents, they weren't the kindest either. He had gone through a handful of homes before this particular couple had taken him in. They were looking for a son who was well behaved and earned good grades in school. Not that there was any hopeful parents-to-be who walked in and said, "Okay, sign me up for the brattiest brat you have. Hm? A juvie record? Ooo! I always wanted one of those! Hunh? Never received a double digit grade? Well, I do have all my summer savings burning a hole in my pocket. Tutoring and summer school is exactly how I want to use it." (Though the thought of that made Naruto grin—how awesome would it be to have a guardian like that?)
This particular couple was extremely pleasant. They were both polite and well groomed and had allowed Naruto to keep the name he had received from his birth parents—he always dreaded that his name would be changed if he was ever adopted. Even their names were pleasant—Mizuki and Tsubaki Touji (1). For almost a whole year, Naruto was able to live up to their expectations and managed to get some of the best grades he had gotten in his life. He even made sure to go out of his way to act well mannered. He found he liked his Mizuki-otousan and wanted to leave a good impression—it was lonely constantly changing homes, schools, and friends. He was never able to settle somewhere long enough to remember anyone's name.
That was what he hated most. The moment he was finally starting to wonder if maybe he had found a place that would keep him, they decided they didn't like him for some trivial reason ("look at his hair… Japanese children do not have blond hair—or blue eyes. I asked for a traditional Japanese child, not some Westerner"). Once he had been shipped back to his group home—calling them orphanages was strictly forbidden—the children he had been used to had all been shipped somewhere else and new faces where there, teasing and taunting him about not being wanted. After all, what normal child went through an average of six to seven homes a year? He had been put in with those "un-adoptables."
So when he had found a home that he had stayed at for more than half a year, he was desperate to stay—though he wouldn't admit that out loud. And it wasn't like the others where after a month of trying the merchandise, if you're not satisfied, merely return the product and we'll either send you another or fully refund you. Note the sarcasm. He had given up on stupid humans. He had more than enough of them and he found himself hating everyone. Jibes and taunts from the stupid group-home kids was something he might have been able to ignore, but he knew he saw the group-home managers sneaking him looks; looks that said much more than any words could; looks that told him what they really thought; looks that let him see what they were really thinking when they patted his head after being shipped back from some couple and murmured: "maybe next time, Naruto… the next time they'll see you for what you are…"
Looks like he was some sort of monster. What child deserved something like that?
Being adopted—finally—had felt good. The Touji couple hadn't even asked for some time to see if things would work out. They went straight for the adoption paperwork—completely taking the group-home managers by surprise. They had tried to explain that maybe it would be best to give it some time to see if it would actually work out, but the couple ignored them.
Naruto wasn't sure whether to feel incredibly thankful or bitter. But Mizuki-otousan had treated him so kindly at first that he wanted to bask in their love unconditionally. So he did. He acted like a perfect son. He acted like someone he wasn't. He went to school and tried in his classes. He tried to ignore the jibes that were sent his way. He actually thought he might be able to start a new life, but then—
That girl commented on how he was adopted and had to be a bastard—he still wasn't sure how the girl had learned the word—since he had to be at least only half-Japanese and how no Japanese would marry a Westerner. She started to bug him about his parents—How did he know he wasn't a bastard? Since he hadn't met his parents, how did he know they weren't some low-life druggies?
He forced himself to deal with it. But a little kid only takes so much. And a little voice in the back of his head told him to make them shut up—shut up PLEASE! He wasn't a bastard; he wasn't, and by the gods he was going to prove it to her.
When he came back to his sane state of mind, she had a broken arm—only a small fracture—and he had attacked the teacher that tried to break them up—not that he hurt the damn guy since he was barely six, but the ass made a huge thing about it. He was expelled. A kindergartener—expelled. Try explaining that one to parents.
Thinking it was merely because he was upset about a new environment, the Touji couple were understanding, moved to a small neighborhood on the other side of town, and tried again.
But the blond had some sort of knack of being a loser. The teachers were slightly put off with the fact that a little brat was expelled for fighting so they were wary of him—though he only fought someone when his mind went white, his sight went red, and he lost track of what he was doing. But the teachers treated him differently than the other students nonetheless.
He had hated that elementary school; there was only one good thing that came from it—he met Gaara. The boy was his age and he was also looked down on; cast out.
The two quickly became best friends. Months went by and Naruto found that maybe he could adapt—maybe he could fit in—only to snap again in end of the third grade. He was expelled for the second time. Disgruntled, the Touji family tried again. But Naruto no longer had Gaara as a friend to lean on during class. He had no friends at any of the other schools and thus he snapped again after a few years. And again at the next school.
Years went by and the small family was moving every few years so Naruto could attend school. They were not pleased in the slightest with the new development. In fact, they were starting to regret adopting the blond altogether. Mizuki told Naruto he had to grow up and almost as if to prove a point told the boy he had to call Tsubaki and himself okaasan and otousan, dropping out the playful first name. Mizuki was also not pleased with the fact that he continually had to find new jobs to fit the new accommodations.
When Naruto turned thirteen only to snap again for the fifth time, Mizuki had had enough. He started to—not quite beat on the blond, for it wasn't abuse… It was more venting of anger. Mizuki started to drink after work to try and relieve his stress. In his intoxicated state, Naruto discovered the man's tongue went loose. He was given verbal strikes.
And those hurt hell of a lot more than any physical blow.
So Naruto felt his childish adoration of his adopted parent fly out the window only to be replaced with nothingness. He didn't hate the couple—they had a right, in a way, to feel the way they did. But that didn't mean he had to like it.
The last time he had snapped… Someone had nearly died. His parents and the principal barely managed to keep it hush-hush and Naruto had been sent to the prestigious high school that Gaara currently attended. That part of it he liked, but… if he got expelled again, not only would no school accept him again, but his foster parents told him he'd have to find a new place to live, out of their lives.
Talk about pressure.
So Naruto was determined to never again let his temper get the better of him. He was a monster in a way, beating up on people, but he didn't remember any of it when he regained control of his mind. He was grateful for that, at least.
Naruto sighed before flipping on the lights. The dim room exploded into actual color and the blond threw his pack onto his bed and immediately logged onto his computer to do a little bit of light research on Uchiha Sasuke. Surely something would come up and he could see just what the bastard's problem was.
He pressed the enter button and waited as files upon files came up in the search results. His blue eyes skimmed through them and his thin brows knitted.
"What the—?"
He squinted at the screen, leaning forward slightly and looking closer to see if maybe he overlooked something. After a few seconds, he frowned and fell back in his chair. No mistaking it… he thought to himself. There were absolutely no search results. Re-typing his search, he tried again. Same result. Frowning, Naruto merely typed in Uchiha and let out a small triumphant cry as he clicked on the one and only result that popped up. It actually looked quite promising…
After skimming it, Naruto sighed before leaning back in his chair again. Sure, it was promising—if he wanted to know how some Meroko Uchiha had inherited some wonderful toilet, Old Bertha. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know how someone knew about that when he couldn't even find something about where Sasuke was born or his family—besides Meroko, but he wasn't sure if she was even related to the raven.
After unsuccessfully trying a few more searches, he threw his hands up in exasperation. There was absolutely nothing good on the raven—there wasn't anything at all, to be more specific. Making a mental note to ask Gaara what he knew about Sasuke or the name Uchiha, Naruto wandered downstairs, grabbing several cups of instant ramen and placing a pot of water on the stove. Tsubaki had stopped cooking a few years ago—three?—and just let everyone fend for themselves, buying groceries and letting Mizuki and Naruto make what they wanted as they pleased.
Naruto froze when he heard the door open and a pair of footfalls shuffle across the hall to the kitchen.
Mizuki was home.
There were times in his life when he wished to the gods he had listened to his family and gone to a decent college to get a more respectable diploma. His mother had been so adamant that he be a doctor, now that he thought back to it. He could still see her worry-lined face as she turned to him in the car the morning he decided to drop out so he could marry Tsubaki—he still had no idea why he had to quit college to marry her, come to think of it. She had told him that she was proud and that he would always be her son. Thank the gods she didn't know he was going to drop school. He hadn't even told her; merely grabbed his stuff and said he was off to "better things."
But that was years ago.
Maybe the alcohol was getting at his brain again…
Shaking his head slightly, he ambled into the kitchen with every intent of popping several aspirin and then collapsing on the couch. His headache was enough to make an ostrich of stampedes hesitate. Or the other way around… Or something.
Groaning, Mizuki decided that he didn't care—he just wanted those stupid pills, gods damn it!
He nearly stumbled but caught himself with the door. He let out a queasy breath that oddly had a taste of vomit to it. He swallowed the disgusting taste and straightened himself. He immediately wished he hadn't, for the first thing he saw was that damn brat. He wouldn't be in this predicament if it wasn't for him. The stupid blond had more than screwed him over—he had had a wonderful, well-paying job that didn't require a degree and he had to drop it so he could move away so the brat could go to school. How fair had that been? When he signed those adoption papers that were probably slightly yellow and stiff with age by this point, he had not agreed to this. All he wanted was a child who would behave and grow up normal.
Ten schools—including the one he was going to currently—in eleven years was not normal. Mizuki also hadn't signed up for the emotional rollercoaster. He had cared for the boy when he was younger and maybe a small part of him still did, but… most of the emotions had hardened over. Was that normal?
Mizuki winced and made his way over to the cabinet, flipping the door open and fished around inside until he found the bottle that housed his best friend. He swallowed the pills dry—having a little trouble getting them down with his dry throat—and pocketed the bottle before turning to look at the blue-eyed boy.
Naruto was doing a good job of ignoring him, he saw. He was watching the pot of steaming water as if it were the most fascinating thing to have ever been invented—but with the way he gobbled down ramen, maybe it was. A throbbing head and a bad mood convinced him it was the boy's fault, as it always did. What it was that was the blond's fault slipped his mind momentarily, but he knew it was something big due to the fact that a hot, explosive anger was enveloping his chest.
"Boy," he snapped. He saw Naruto look at him through the corner of his eye, though he didn't bother moving his head to fully face the older man. That pissed Arashi off more than an insult could have. "Look at me," he hissed, turning his body so he was fully facing the idiotic brat.
Naruto, for a second, continued to ignore him before he gave a sigh and turned his head slightly. "What?" he asked in a neutral tone.
"Have you been kicked out yet?" The statement was simple and told Naruto just what his darling otousan thought of him.
"No," he replied casually, giving a small shrug. His eyes strayed back to the kettle and he turned away.
A small snarl evolved from the original sneer he had directed at Naruto. "Just like your father, I bet."
The blond would've liked to sigh. "You never met my father," he pointed out with non-existent patience. "So I highly doubt you'd know anything about that."
"I don't need to know him to know you're just like him. I saw a picture of those bastards that made you. You look just like him. It's only natural you'd act like him, too."
Naruto stiffened. "What do you mean you saw a picture?" he sharply demanded.
Mizuki sniffed. "I don't see how it matters. I'm sure he'd be proud of how his son turned out just like him. I never would've believed that there was a freak gene until I met you."
Naruto whirled, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What do you mean you saw a picture, you lying ass? There's no way you saw anything of the kind." Despite the fact that a part of him didn't believe anything the older man told him, the fact that there was a slight possibility that the man had an actual photo of his parents bugged him.
"The orphanage was willing to give us some background on you before we took you in. They were really trying to stop us from taking you, apparently. I still don't know why I didn't listen—you've been nothing but a thorn to me."
Naruto didn't let himself show his hope. "So you still have the picture?" He tried to sound casual, but it was obvious that there was slight desperation behind his tone.
Mizuki snorted. "And if I do?" he taunted.
"It's rightfully mine," Naruto snapped in reply. "So that means I—"
He was cut off by a wheezing laugh. "Yours?" he echoed followed by more laughter. "You have got to be jesting! His, he says," he cackled.
Naruto frowned and clenched his fists. "It is mine. It's a picture of my parents, not yours, so it's mine," he growled logically.
Mizuki snorted. "Give me a break, kid. I have it, so—Hey," he interrupted himself, blinking and letting a slow grin spread across his face. "How about I make a deal with you?"
Naruto wanted impulsively to say, "Hell no!" but instead found himself muttering, "What kind of deal?"
"A simple one, really: you do whatever I say for a month—and you don't get into an ounce of trouble at school—and you'll get your picture. And I mean whatever I say with no questions and you do it then and there."
Naruto ground his teeth together. "No."
Mizuki shrugged easily. "Then I'll just throw it out—I have no use for it," he said, watching closely for a reaction; it was so much fun to get the blond idiot all riled up.
And what a reaction he got. Blue eyes crackled dangerously as he dug his teeth down into his bottom lip to keep his temper—and his tongue that was battling his better judgment—under control as he deeply breathed to calm himself. "Why do you care so much?" he managed to ask, his voice deeper from his barely controlled rage.
That was all he needed to further rile the blond up—anger. "Geez, boy; what? Are you going to attack me? You know you'd never be able to actually hurt me, right?" He paused to give a hearty chuckle. "Why do you even try anymore? You do know that you're just going to be a failure in life, right?"
Naruto's eyes flashed. "Shut up."
Mizuki's left eyebrow rose slightly in genuine curiosity. "Why? Why should I when I'm telling you something you should know by now? It's hopeless, Naruto. You should know that."
Naruto would have disregarded the statement completely had the man not said his name. Arashi never used his name unless he was having a once-in-a-blue-moon serious moment.
"Fine," he finally replied. "I agree. I'll do what you want me to for a month in return for my parent's picture."
Mizuki snorted before wincing, bringing his hand up to his burning chest. The alcohol was not being cooperative with his stomach. "Good," he grumbled before hastily scrambling out of the kitchen.
The pot on the stove sounded its shrill shriek, bringing the blond back to reality.
"I've always hated him."
The words were a little hard to absorb at first. Wasn't 'hate' one of the most powerful words in a language? (Yet despite that fact it was the one most often used—an irony Naruto knew a little too well.) What exactly transpired couldn't be said. But the blond couldn't help but wonder if anyone really had the right to use 'hate' in any context. And just what had happened to make those words reality?
"What happened?" Naruto murmured, eyes cast up to the small, wispy clouds as he voiced his thoughts.
"What does that matter?" a harsh voice demanded.
The blond sighed. "How long have you known him?"
"Since freshmen year." (2)
"Mm… any particular reason why you don't like the Uchiha?" Naruto asked a little hesitantly.
Gaara's expression didn't waver in the least—not that Naruto really expected it to. "I think we just have clashing personalities."
Clashing personalities… the blond repeated in his mind before snorting. "So do we and you don't hate me," he pointed out semi-logically.
"We—have the same eyes."
Alright, that one made azure eyes blink twice in slight puzzlement. Just as soon as the confusion came, however, it vanished to be replaced with an adorable grin. "I suppose that's true," he grinned, reaching over and latching onto the red-head's cheek, pinching it like a middle-aged woman would a child she found adorable.
Gaara scowled at him. "Stop, dammit."
Naruto snorted when he saw that there wasn't any real threat behind the tone or words. "Like it actually hurt," Naruto retorted, grinning, before he blurted, "You have CIPA, 'member?"
Both boys froze right outside the door to their homeroom. Naruto was mentally bashing himself up in his mind—how could he have been so stupid?! The red-headed boy had always been a little self-conscious about the fact that he had such a rare disease. Naruto was one of the only people to know—he was pretty sure it wasn't even in the boy's records since no one knew he had it until Gaara turned four and no one had been told of the development. CIPA—or Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhydrous—was something that Gaara had kept a secret from everyone. Basically, it meant his brain didn't recognize pain and thus never allowed his nerves to feel it. Gaara had put a shit load of trust in the blond to tell him something like that and that was why Naruto had never mentioned it.
"G- Gaara, I… I didn't mean for that to come o—"
"Tch, it's fine."
End of topic.
The bell rang then and Naruto jumped. "We're late," he hissed. His bright cerulean eyes flicked over to the other boy before he loosely grabbed onto his wrist and tugged. "Come on, baka, we have to get to class." He pushed the door open and winced slightly as it gave a small creak, very obviously announcing their arrival, causing every student to glance over in curiousness. The teacher, upon noting that everyone was looking in the same direction, also curiously flicked his gaze over only to stiffen when he saw just what it was.
"Ah, Uzumaki-san, I see you have decided to join us, ne? Isn't this a bad habit to have? You do realize that if you are late enough times—" He abruptly stopped when another figure slipped through the door and crossed his arms sourly.
"Please continue," Gaara commanded snappishly, his narrowed eyes trained on the man.
"D—Please take your seats. It's only been—It hasn't even been five minutes since school started."
Gaara didn't reply, but merely silently made his way over to his desk, Naruto towing in behind him. He—Gaara—glared at anyone who even looked at him or the blond in the wrong way as homeroom dragged on.
Naruto knew Lady Luck had turned her back on him yet again.
It was about the time that Naruto stepped out of his homeroom that he realized he had absolutely no idea where his first period was. He looked at his schedule, staring at the room number, and then starting glancing around like his first-period class was going to shout "Oo, oo! Me; me! It's me—I'm over here!" Or if the room wasn't in this hallway, some other room would kindly point him in the right direction and wish him a good day as he frolicked off to class.
As if.
"What the hell are you doing?" Gaara suddenly asked, breaking the blond out of his thoughts quite abruptly.
Naruto looked like he would rather not say, but after a second, admitted, "I don't know where any of my morning classes are."
The look the red-head gave Naruto suggested he had lost the last remaining strand of his patience—most likely he had with how annoyingly-Naruto Naruto was (if that made any sense at all). Deciding it wasn't worth the hassle, Gaara merely gave a pained sigh and muttered, "Come on then, I'll show you where your first class is—but you're on your own from then on, got it?" His tone left no room for argument, so the blond merely nodded.
Giving muttered curses, the red-head inspected the schedule in question before starting off, Naruto following, hoping that his friend wasn't going to get him even more lost—he wouldn't put it past the ass, though.
He was surprised when the said ass abruptly stopped in the middle of the hall. "What?" the blond questioned. When he received no reply, he tried again, "What the hell are you doing, Gaara-chan?"
"Your class?" Gaara said as question in a 'DUH!' tone.
Naruto blinked before swiveling his head to look over to wear the red-head was staring at. "Oh—thanks, man! You're a life saver! I'll see you after class?"
"No," Gaara drawled slowly, sounding like he was talking to a toddler who just couldn't get the concept of something—he had clearly said he was only helping the blond to his first class, dammit.
Naruto's grin fell and he scowled. "Then how the hell am I supposed to—?"
"Shit…" a new male voice murmured softly.
A little surprised, Naruto looked over to see non other than the Dog Boy—Kiba—standing about ten meters away, looking like he had walked upon some terrifying murder.
"Eh—Kiba!" the blond exclaimed, his shock disappearing to be replaced with pure glee. "Whatcha doin' here?"
Muddy brown eyes jumped from Naruto to Gaara a few times suspiciously before he replied hesitantly, like if he said the wrong thing he would be decapitated or mutilated. "My class is right beside you…"
Blue eyes widened slightly before flicking over to the mentioned room then back to the wary boy. "Really? That one there?"
Kiba gave him a look that suggested he had grown horns or some other unusual appendage. "That's what I said, isn't it? You need to learn how to listen, fuck."
Naruto snorted. "No need to get snippy, you bastard. I was just making a clarification; geez."
Gaara apparently had grown bored of standing around like a decoration. "I'll be leaving," he announced in a mutter in the blond's direction.
"Unh-uh, I don't think so."
Gaara paused and turned to face Naruto. "What?" His tone made it clear that he just wanted to leave—but the blond could also hear an almost unnoticeable (in fact the only person who could hear it was most likely Naruto himself) hint of desperation; Gaara didn't like talking to anyone other than Naruto due to that fact that no one else accepted him like the blond did. Everyone else judged him.
For once, Naruto ignored the subtle message. "You can't just walk away from someone without an introduction," he pointed out.
"Er—" The sound came from Kiba so the blue eyed boy turned to look at him questioningly as a silent encouragement to continue. "I already know him, though. He's Gaara—Shukaku no Gaara; Sabaku Gaara. There's really no need for him to—"
Naruto frowned and that was enough for the Dog Boy to cut himself off. Cerulean eyes drifted over to the red-head. "But do you know his name?"
Gaara gave Naruto a tight look. "I care not."
Naruto snorted. "And I care not whether you care not, so know what that means?" He didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "Yes, we are going to have a fluffy moment and skip into the sunset as we make some new friends. Gods, Gaara, no need to look like that. You are going to do this. Good, now—come over here, baka."
Looking like it was the worst torture anyone could go through, Gaara complied and walked over to stand next to Naruto.
"Good, now, Gaara, this is…" the blond drifted off, a silent instruction for Kiba to fill in the sentence.
"Inuzuka Kiba," he said very reluctantly.
"Kiba, this is…" Naruto once again drifted off expectantly.
A long silence fell.
"Gaar- ra," the blond finally growled, obviously not pleased.
"He already said he knew who I was," the red-head replied a little waspishly.
A long sigh from the blue-eyed boy. "Kiba, this is Gaara," he muttered, more to appease himself than anything else.
Kiba hesitantly nodded.
"Now, Gaara, why do you suppose Kiba is scared shitless of you?" Naruto asked a little sharply, completely ignoring Kiba's indignantly roared: "I'm not s- scared—"
Green eyes flicked over to Naruto. "Isn't it obvious?" he dryly answered.
"It's obvious you're a pompous, arrogant ass who needs to try and not send everyone fleeing for their health in frightened tears!" Naruto remarked hotly. "Gods, would it hurt you to treat anyone decently?"
"I treat you decently," the red-head muttered—though his tone was still stoic, Naruto could tell indignance was rolling off him in waves.
"But I'm the only one—" The blond was interrupted by the bell. "Don't move," Naruto instructed Kiba before turning his attention back to Gaara. "I want you to promise you'll actually act civil around Kiba." When the red-head made no move, Naruto growled, "Now."
Mossy green eyes narrowed at him before flicking over to the other boy. "I promise," he muttered.
And Kiba blinked in surprise before gaping at Naruto. "You're a god," he nearly exclaimed in awe.
"How so?" Naruto blinked in confusion.
"You tamed a beast—a scary one, too."
"Hey," the blond cried. "You need to treat him civilly, too, ya know. This goes both ways."
Kiba snorted. "I know; I'm not an idiot."
"Oh, I don't know 'bout that one," Naruto dryly commented to the Dog Boy's annoyance.
"Oi! I'll have you know I passed—"
"All your classes last semester; yeah, I heard it before when you said the same thing to Shino. Geez man, you need to make different comebacks." For a good measure, Naruto rolled his eyes.
"And you need to learn how to control your idiocy," Gaara grumbled.
Kiba snickered. "How true that is," he agreed.
Naruto gave the red-head a playful smack on the arm. Gaara gave a long-suffering sigh and merely said, "You have class, you know."
Naruto froze. "Oh. Shit." He nibbled on his bottom lip. "I'm late… Gaara, I don't want a detention," he whined.
The red-head was ready to roll his eyes. "I thought you didn't need my help," he pointed out.
"Uh—yeah. But I don't want a detention even more."
Gaara didn't reply, but made his way over to the door, opened it, and gestured for Naruto and Kiba to go in, which they did, giving the red-head a look. He followed them in, giving the teacher no time to lecture either Naruto or Kiba. "They were with me, so forgive their absence." That was all the red-head said.
The man gave Gaara a look. "Hn," he hummed. He was one of the few teachers who weren't afraid to stand up to the infamous red-head. "I don't see why that is any excuse as to why I should excuse Inuzuka-san and—" He cut himself off as he looked at Naruto with slight surprise. "Are you by any chance the new transfer student?"
"Yep, that's me!" Naruto cried, pumping a fist. "Uzumaki Naruto!"
The man snorted. "Then I welcome you to Trigonometry 2. You can address me as Ibiki-sensei."
Naruto nodded. "Of course, Ibiki-sensei. I'll be sure to try my hardest."
The man snorted again before looking to Kiba. "What are you still doing standing? Get to your seats, you two. And you"—his gaze went to Gaara—"what are you still doing here? Don't you have your own classes to attend?"
Upon seeing that everything was under control, Gaara turned and left, the door slowly closing behind him.
And that was that.
"Dude," Kiba whispered once they had taken two empty seats in the back that were next to each other. "Gaara is awesome!"
Naruto flashed a grin and whispered in reply, "I know, right? He's the best. He always makes sure I don't get in trouble, he's always there to keep me under control, and he makes sure no one bugs me." Naruto stopped and frowned. "Though it's not always that wonderful to have someone else trying to fight your battles for you… gets kinda annoying after a while, actually."
Kiba snorted. "I can see why. Fuck, if someone did that for me, I'd beat them up."
Naruto chuckled. "A word of advice: Don't do anything like that with Gaara."
Kiba snorted again. "You think I'd be stupid enough to risk that?"
"Oi!" Ibiki called. "Inuzuka, Uzumaki! If your going to have a discussion in my class, try being less discreet next time—quite seriously. The school says I'm to start giving detentions to people who disrupt my class."
Naruto and Kiba mumbled their apologies before pulling out their notebooks to begin class.
"Oh, my God," Naruto groaned.
"I know," Kiba muttered darkly in response.
"No—oh, my God," Naruto repeated.
"Yes, I know."
"No—oh, my God," the blond repeated for the third time.
"Yes, I know," Kiba growled, patience thinning.
"No—oh, my God."
An animalistic growl—one that resembled a dog to Naruto's amusement—vibrated in Kiba's throat. "Yes, I know!"
"No—oh my God—"
"FUCK, I KNOW!!"
Naruto rubbed his ears unappreciatively. "Geez, no need to snap like that."
"Well you wouldn't shut up," Kiba seethed.
The blue eyed boy frowned. "But oh, my—"
Kiba threw his hands in the air and let out a cry of frustration. "Naruto, I know."
The other shook his head. "No, you don't," he grumbled, crossing his arms.
"I was right there," Kiba pointed out dryly. "I also received the assignment."
Naruto's arms dropped and he groaned. "Oh, gods, Kiba. I'm going to go insane…"
Kiba grimaced, his mood doing a three-sixty. "Yeah, me, too."
"I'm going to go completely and utterly, one-hundred percent, as in good-bye high school, hello asylum, insane."
"And I'm going to be joining you, fuck." Kiba slid his hand down his face in exasperation.
Naruto gave a small whine. "Four… four pages."
"I have to do it, too, shit-head," Kiba grumbled.
"But I suck at doing those types of problems!"
Kiba winced. "Yeah… So do I."
Naruto huffed. "We are so screwed."
Kiba winced again. "Yeah, we are."
Both boys sighed.
"Well, come one, blondie. We have to get to our next class and we have to be on time—we don't have your guardian to back us up," the brunet pointed out as he continued down the hall at a brisk pace.
Naruto gave some grumbled curses before following his friend. "Where is our next class, anyway?" Both boys had discovered that they shared all of the same classes until lunch, at which point they both had different courses.
"Is Ibiki-san always so heavy on projects and homework?" Naruto questioned as they traversed through the school.
Kiba made a face. "I would like to say no, but I would be lying and thus giving you false hope."
Naruto gave a groaning sigh.
"Yeah, I know," the other agreed, shifting his backpack slightly.
"Is the next teacher as bad as him?"
Kiba snorted. "Genma? Are you kidding me? He hates grading things. He hates making worksheets. He hates writing up tests. He hates having to look over homework. Hell, he hates everything having to do with being a teacher besides the part where he gets to admire his students—that's what you should be concerned about."
Naruto grinned as they stopped before the designated class room. "Ah, then he's an admirable teacher for that. It's not every day you find a teacher who will do anything for his students."
Kiba's hand froze on the door knob to the classroom and he gave Naruto a look that suggested he had gone insane. "What are you talking about? Didn't I say you had to be concerned? He's nothing like that—well, he kinda is… but what I meant is—well… Oh, just see for yourself!" Kiba finally ordered, thrusting the door open.
Kiba stepped inside and immediately made his way to a back seat. Naruto nervously glanced around, not sure what to expect from the 'Genma' character that he assumed was the teacher. Kiba had reacted a little oddly and Naruto couldn't help but wonder why…
"OH!" someone exclaimed. Naruto was about to turn around to see what had caused the person to cry out but found he had no time to as a pair of arms suddenly circled around his waist.
"What the fu—?"
"You're the new student?" the same voice purred in his ear.
Naruto yelped before slapping the arms away and whirling. "What the hell?"
He was greeted by a man who couldn't have been older than twenty-five—he barely even looked twenty—with shoulder length brown hair. A small, wooden toothpick was dangling precariously between his lips.
"You're the new student, ne?" he asked again, his brown eyes dancing merrily.
"Uhhh…"
"Dammit, Genma, leave him alone!" Kiba roared from his seat.
"Aw, come on. You have to allow a poor man his pleasure!" the man—Genma, apparently—retaliated.
"Not when it involves molesting my friend!" Kiba snarled back.
Genma looked appalled. "Kiba, I am disappointed. Have I taught you no shame? You don't molest people, you dirty boy! You make themwant it and then beg for it. And besides, I'm a teacher—I can't have a sexual relationship with a student."
"Like that would stop you."
Genma frowned as he seriously mulled it over. "Actually… it would indeed stop me. Why would I risk a nice, high-paying job for a bed warmer?"
"Have you no shame?"
"… No?"
Kiba let out a long suffering sigh. Genma gave a grin that could have put the Cheshire cat to shame. Naruto wondered why he was in this particular class. Several other classmates were pondering what had happened in Genma's past to make him as he was.
The bell rang, bringing everyone back to the present.
"Well, as cute as Naruto-chan may be, I do have a class to teach. So, Naruto-chan—you don't mind if I call you that, right?—just take a seat back there next to—"
Though it wasn't the loudest sound at all—in fact, it was pretty much neat silent—when the sound of the door opening filled Genma's sharpened hearing, he swiveled his head to inspect it. "Ah, Mr. Uchiha. You're—late… Well, this is different." There was a three second pause before another one of those Cheshire-cat-to-shame grins broke out. "Oh, my God, you're late. Do you know what that means? Do you know what that means? That means—"
He was cut off as a small piece of white paper was shoved in his face. "Take the damn excuse note so we can start class," Sasuke ordered in his stoic tone.
Genma looked crushed. "Excuse note? No! We can't have this! Uchiha, throw it out the window and then pretend you lost it so I can—"
Sasuke—upon seeing that the man did not plan on accepting the paper he was holding out—released his grip on the note and whirled to take his seat as the small white sheet fluttered uncaringly to the floor.
Naruto's brow twitched as his gaze did a quick scan of the room. Genma's class was—surprisingly—quite full. There were only two unoccupied seats in the whole room. One was right next to him in the back of the classroom and the other was on the other side of the room more towards the middle. Three guesses were Sasuke decided to sit. Two don't count.
"Che; well if it isn't the dobe," Sasuke said softly to him, slipping into the seat.
"Sasuke-teme, go pout in your Corner of Sulk elsewhere."
One of those—they had to be infamous—smirks slowly formed on the raven's lips. "I have to say, I'm impressed you're talking to me like that."
Naruto pouted. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Oi, Naruto-chan, Uchiha, are you climaxing?"
Naruto's brows crinkled at the question, slightly perturbed at being asked such a thing from a teacher. "…No?"
Genma rolled his eyes. "Then I shouldn't be hearing your voice." There was a pause before the older man's brow also crinkled. "I haven't made a proper introduction yet, have I?" He rolled his eyes and shrugged it off, continuing, "Oh, well. I'm Genma. Call me sensei and I'll have different expectations of you than your regular teacher would." He flashed a grin that made it obvious as to what he was talking about. "Since you're new, I can assure you that was a hint to kindly not do so."
Naruto snorted. "I figured as much," he grumbled before realizing something. "Oh, what class is this anyway?"
"I feel slightly hurt. You don't even know what courses you're taking?" Genma looked ready to pout.
"Er… maybe?"
The man rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Latin."
"Oh," was all the blond said before some old, dust-covered thought managed to make itself known. "Wait—isn't that a dead language?"
Genma frowned as he thought about it. "Dead is such an evil word… I prefer 'unloved' or 'unappreciated.' "
Naruto frowned before giving a frustrated growl. "Another subject I'm going to be failing."
Sasuke gave him a glance, one of his perfect eyebrows—did he wax them?—arching. "Are you truly that stupid, dobe?"
"Oh, shut up," the blond hotly remarked.
"Tch." His lips quirked up into a smirk again. "You know," he drawled, "I could act as a tutor."
Cerulean eyes narrowed and took on an icy hue, making them look blue-ish grey. "No, teme. In case you forgot, my friend is permanently pissed at you. I'm not even allowed to talk to you, apparently."
Sasuke gave him a look and something flickered in his eyes for half a second before disappearing instantly. It happened so fast Naruto had to wonder if he had imagined it. "So you listen to what others tell you, then, like some sort of idiot?"
Naruto bristled. "Hell, no," he spat. "What am I doing now but talking to you? I don't listen to what Gaara tells me unless I know there's a good reason behind it."
The Uchiha looked away, almost like he was bored. "Hn," he hummed.
"Why do I still hear you despite the fact that neither of you are in the midst of a passionate orgasm? Hell, you're not even semi-undressed."
Naruto gave Genma a withering look. "Screw you, too, Genma," he growled.
The man brightened. "Oh, my God. Are you offering? Cuz there's just no way I could disappoint you when it comes to something like—"
"Fuck!" Kiba threw his ears in a vain attempt to sensor out the words that Genma gushed. "I thought you said your job was more important than something like that! Keep your mind on task for once, you hypocritical perv!" (3)
"Che. It can't be an insult if it's true," Genma pointed out.
"Act your age," Kiba instructed.
Genma gave a sigh while mumbling about 'stupid dog boys interrupting his fun.' "Salvete," he finally told the class.
"Salve," most of them replied.
Naruto merely blinked. What the hell? 'Sul-way?' That's not part of my language…
Naruto was, indeed, screwed.
"That was awful," Naruto grumbled as he stomped through the halls to his next class.
Kiba snorted. "Not really. He seemed to have been having a good day—a sane day."
"You mean he gets worse?!"
"Che. This is Genma we're talking about. Of course it gets worse." (4)
Naruto groaned. "Now I know why that old principal sent me here—he plans to torture my soul!"
The brunet gave him a look. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," Naruto quickly assured.
Kiba "hmph"ed before his chocolate brown eyes landed on an unwelcome figure. "What the hell are you doing following us, anyway?" he demanded a little sharply.
Sasuke gave a long suffering sigh. "My class is also this way," he answered, sounding like he had much better things to do than talk to someone as lowly as Kiba.
"What Kiba means is, why are you walking with us?" Naruto piped in. "You could walk up there before us or behind us. So why right beside us; not even a foot away from me." He managed to hide his irritation nicely he noticed a little proudly.
"Do you really care that much where I walk?"
Kiba growled. "Whatever. We're almost there, anyway."
As if on cue, Kiba stopped in front of a door, gripped the handle, and stopped. He bit his lip and looked at Naruto a little guiltily.
"What?" the blond demanded.
"Er—dude, I'm sorry to have to do this to you…"
Naruto blinked. "What?" he repeated.
Kiba swallowed, hardened his resolve, and pushed open the door. Naruto was slightly surprised when no fireworks shot out at them with the way the brunet was acting.
"Geez," the blond grumbled before stepping into the class.
"Oh! You must be the transfer, no?"
Naruto winced and resisted the urge to rub at his ears. Whoever had said that was loud, that was for sure.
"Er—yeah, I'm—"
"Oh, it's amazing that you're in my class! I must tell you that I am quite excited to be able to teach someone who looks as amazing as you! You have a youthful spirit—look at it! It just comes off you in waves!"
"Yeeeeah…"
It was then that Naruto noticed the man who was clad in a green spandex jumpsuit—how could he have missed seeing this man dressed as he was?—with black hair in a bowl cut. As if that wasn't enough, his eyebrows were quite abnormal. They were huge, no joke. They had to be the thickest substance on the face of the planet. Seriously.
"Gai-sensei!" Kiba barked, once again coming to the blond's rescue. "Leave the poor guy alone."
The door opened again and a loud cry of "GAI-SENSEI!" reverberated off the walls.
Naruto winced at the loud cry but noticed that the green thing's attention had been caught and that his grin grew even larger. "OH, LEE!" he cried, tears of joy filing his eyes. "ARE YOU READY FOR ANOTHER DAY OF YOUTHFUL KNOWLEDGE?"
"WITH YOU GUIDING ME, SENSEI, I HAVE BEEN PREPARED FOR ANYTHING!" the boy replied. Naruto noted that he looked almost exactly like the older man. He was even sporting the green spandex, nerdy bowl cut, and had huge eyebrows—though they couldn't properly compare to the older man's. Those things were enough to wipe out a nation.
"OH, LEE!" Tears poured out of the man's eyes freely now.
"GAI-SENSEI!" the boy—Lee?—cried back, tears of joy also filling his eyes and flooding down his face.
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"Naruto!"
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What?" the blond defended. "It was my turn by this point, right?" Naruto found he quite enjoyed butting into name-screaming matches.
The boy whose name had to be Lee turned to face him, a sparkle in his eye. "You must be the transfer!" he exclaimed. "Oh, how happy I am to know you! I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival! Do you know how happy I am to see you? You can not fathom, I tell you! Come, let us run around a hundred and fifty laps around the school to celebrate!"
"As much as I would… love to run laps with you, class is going to begin, no?"
"Oh, but of course! Very well, then! At lunch we shall make our laps! I am Rock Lee, and I shall make sure you know just how lovely our time of youth is! Rock Lee always knows these things!"
"Ah. Okay then. I'm Naruto Uzumaki—"
"—Oh, what a lovely name—!"
"And I do believe you are cutting off the circulation of my arm."
Lee gave a hearty chuckle but backed off. "I shall see you after class then!"
Naruto winced before side stepping away from the loud rematch of "LEE!" and "GAI-SENSEI!" Apparently one round of it wasn't enough.
He saw Kiba and took a seat next to him.
"Gods… I think I like Genma more."
Kiba flinched. "Actually, I don't know which of the two is worse."
The blond sighed before he belatedly noticed something. "Holy hell! Shino! You're here!" He grinned.
Shino turned to look in his direction. "Yes, I regret to inform you. I am also in this course."
Kiba snorted. "He helps keep me sane, man. Without him here, I would've dropped this course, mandatory curriculum or not. He also helps me forget a certain bastard."
Naruto gave the brunet a look before following his gaze and groaned. "He's in this class, too?" he hissed. "What's up with my awful luck?"
Sasuke noticed Naruto staring at him and smirked before looking away.
"Fuck this…" the blond mumbled. "I think someone is playing some sort of joke on me…"
Never before had Naruto noticed that silence was golden. Usually, the blond was the one constantly causing a ruckus but for once all he wanted to do was enjoy the moment.
Gai had announced in his booming voice that he was needed elsewhere during the last five minutes of class so it was a small commons until the bell rang.
"He's gone," both Kiba and Naruto muttered together.
"He has got to be the scariest man I have ever seen," the blue eyed boy deducted in a sigh as he slouched in his chair, exhausted.
Kiba nodded grimly. "I think he's scarred everyone for life, fuck."
"And dude, seriously, what's up with Sasuke-teme being in most of my classes?"
Shino shrugged. "Ask him."
Naruto groaned. "You," he whined.
"I'm not the one curious about it," Shino pointed out.
"Kiba?"
"I'd drop dead before willingly talking to the piece of—"
The blond sighed. "Oh, fine, you guys. Be that way." He looked over at the bastard in question and frowned before calling, "Oi, teme!" It didn't take long at all for Naruto to realize he was being ignored. "Oi! Teme!"
When the raven continued to not even acknowledge him, he shrugged, stood, went over to where Sasuke was sitting, and promptly picked up Sasuke's book bag, plopped it on a desk, and unzipped it. He shuffled around inside for a few seconds before a pair of hands sharply grabbed a hold of his wrists, applying pressure.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked in a whisper that was full of animosity. The boy liked his privacy.
"Looking for your schedule," Naruto replied easily, continuing to pry around with his eyes. "I wanted to know just how many classes we have together but someone wouldn't answer me so I had to move on to plan B."
"Plan B?" Sasuke echoed, lifting a brow.
"Well, you see, here's how it is: I had four plans lined up on how to get your schedule." He looked quite proud about that one.
The raven sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" he muttered before pulling a paper out of his pocket and holding it out.
Naruto blinked at him. "Eh?"
Sasuke let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. "My schedule? You wanted to see it?"
The blond blinked. "Your pocket's a weird place for it to be," he pointed out.
"For you I'm sure. I have fan girls to worry about, however," the raven dismissed.
Naruto snorted. "I highly doubt that."
"Hn. Dobe."
"Teme," Naruto retaliated.
"Usuratonkachi."
"Teme."
"Baka."
"Teme."
"Is that the only insult you know?"
"Teme," Naruto firmly repeated, finally bringing the schedule up to his face so he could read it. Sasuke "hn'd" as the silence in the room once again fell.
That silence didn't last more than three seconds.
"Eh?!" Naruto screeched, dropping the paper like it was poison. "The only time I'm not going to see you is during homeroom and first period! What the hell?"
Sasuke grunted, picking up the offended sheet of paper from its place on the floor.
"Not. Fair," Naruto whined.
"Isn't it a little immature to say something like that?" Sasuke asked dryly.
"Hell, no. Uzumaki Naruto never does anything immature—he just does whatever he feels like doing!"
"Does he feel like sitting his ass back down in his seat?" Kiba called, grinning.
"Oh, ha ha; laugh it up, Dog Boy."
"You know, I really need to get you a different nickname. Blondie isn't cutting it."
Naruto was about to stick out his tongue when the bell rang.
"Sweet Jesus!" Kiba cried. "The torture is finally over!" He grabbed his bag and flew out the door almost immediately.
"Enthusiastic-much?" the blond mused to Shino, laughing.
"That's a good way of putting it," Shino agreed.
"… Kiba, I swear to the gods, he got his rabies shots."
"No."
"Why the hell not?"
"I like my life as it is. I don't have going to the hospital on my to-do list."
Naruto huffed. "He's harmless."
Kiba snorted. "I beg to differ."
The blond pinned him with a glare. "Gaara promised to act civilly around you," he reasoned.
The brunet shook his head stubbornly. "No."
Shino shifted from one foot to the other. "Please just sit somewhere. I am getting tired of standing."
Kiba frowned. "I'm not going over there, Naruto."
The blond gave an impatient sigh. "Look, I'll get him to promise not to touch you, okay? He'll leave you alone if I tell him to—hell, he doesn't even need that. He doesn't make a habit of beating people up for no reason."
Kiba paused before letting out a pained noise. "If I do die, I better hear a fucking tear-jerking speech on how wonderful I was—and I want marigolds at my funeral, not roses."
"I'll make sure to take note of that."
Kiba took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go—I'm ready."
Naruto resisted the urge to thwack the boy as he led them across the room to the table that only occupied Gaara. He flopped down across from the red-head. "Yo," he greeted before giving Kiba a sharp look to sit down. The brunet did so, returning the blond's glower. With Shino on his left and Kiba on his right, Naruto turned to Gaara. "Hey, panda-face, I need some help."
Green eyes flicked over to him questioningly.
Naruto wasted no time in zipping open his book bag and pulling out a thick text and note book with a pen tucked under the cover, throwing them at the red-head. "Page one-fifty-eight to one-sixty-two," he said.
Gaara hummed in response before flipping the two books open. Upon inspecting the damage, he picked up the pen and started to nonchalantly write something.
"Is—is he doing your homework?" Kiba asked, completely in awe.
Naruto frowned. "No, stupid. He's just doing a problem or two so I can understand it."
"Oh. Cool." Kiba looked a little surprised. "Does he, uh, do this often?"
"Only all the time," Naruto replied, smiling cheekily.
"NARUTOOOOO!"
"Fuck." Blue eyes widened in horror before he dived under the table. "I'm. Not. Here," he hissed.
"Ah, Kiba-san!" an overly cheerful voice boomed. "Have you seen Naruto-kun?" The blond was very surprised that the boy wasn't screaming as loud as possible. Curiosity gnawing, he peeked up from under Kiba's legs—wrong as that sounded—to see those impossibly round eyes were stuck on something on the other side of the table. Naruto blinked before realization dawned.
Lee's also a little wary of Gaara… He had the urge to snort. Why did everyone just assume the red-head was going to kill them when they didn't even do anything? Much to their surprise, he could confidently say that Gaara wouldn't hurt anyone unless there was a good reason for it.
" 'Fraid I haven't," Kiba replied. "I think he had to see the teacher after last period—you know how Raido-sensei likes to give pointless lectures."
"Ah…" Lee actually looked disappointed. "Well then tell him that I'll see him tomorrow if you see him before me, yeah? Ja!"
"Is he gone?" Naruto hissed.
"All clear," Kiba assured.
"Gods!" the blond cried, pulling himself back onto the seat. "I hope he doesn't do this every day."
Kiba snorted. "It would be amusing for me."
Naruto pinned him with a dirty look. "Shutting of the uppy is in the process at this point." (5)
Kiba was about to retort when two books were thrown, landing between them with a thump that made both of them jump. They stared at the pile for less than two seconds before a pen also flew through the air, landing almost comically with no noise on top of one of the books.
Naruto blinked before turning to Gaara who was poking at some of the rice in his bento. "Thanks man," he murmured sincerely before pulling the books and pen in front of him before grinning slyly at Kiba. "See why he's the best?"
"Tch. No need to rub it in. But, dude, are you, like, smart or something, Gaara?"
Instead of replying, the red-head nudged a container in the blond's direction. Naruto immediately gave a whoop of joy and dived for it. "See why I love him?" he nearly squealed, ripping off the lid to reveal ramen.
When the blue eyed boy leaned over the table to pluck the chopsticks out of Gaara's hands, he received a withering glare. "I made sure to pack you a pair of your own," he informed Naruto.
"Oh," he dumbly uttered, seeing the pair of chopsticks next to his meal. "So you did…"
Kiba rolled his eyes as noodles were immediately devoured at an inhuman pace, a few stray strings of it flying up around the blond as he tried to slurp the whole meal into his mouth.
"Is he always like this?" the brunet murmured, slightly amused, to Gaara.
Green eyes met Kiba's brown. "Mm," he hummed in response.
Somehow, Kiba knew that was a yes.
"I think I like him even more," the brunet laughed at Shino.
Shino's head turned to face his friend. "But of course. He is quite the interesting character."
Kiba snorted. "You make it sound like he's some part of a story… Er, I don't think even I would want to read something that he's part of. Could you see him in a book? He's ruin the whole thing!" (6)
"But of course." Shino wasn't sure he actually agreed. But either way, the school year definitely just brightened.
(1) Mizuki and Tsubaki Touji: Nope. Not original characters. Most of you know who Mizuki is. Tsubaki was introduced as his fiancé around episode 146. And look! I found Mizuki's last name! :D
(2) In Japan, high school is usually grades 10- 12 (9th is considered junior high). But there are a few schools that have 9- 12th grade. This is one. So Gaara and Sasuke have hated each other since 9th grade.
(3) The nickname that Kiba dubbed Genma with, as you can tell.
(4) No joke there. Genma can/does get worse. much worse. He has my friend's humor, and my friend is… shall we say… a pervert? xD NOTE: this Genma o' mine was inspired by FastForward's Genma… Cuz her Fics are the only one with him constantly there, really… And, ya know, her writing's all influential and all that jazz.
(5) That's actually how I say shut up sometimes. Just in case you couldn't figure out what he was saying (As certain friends of mine can't -another indelicate cough-).
(6) Er… yeah. But of course. That line came naturally and I realized just how… ironic (?) in a way it was. Did you find it… I don't know—redundant?
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Drop off some comments, ne? XD They feed my soul!