Long time no see everyone. As usual... I am apologizing for taking soooo long in updating. I've been busy with the major play I was in for drama class, work, and the musical I'm in. So much to be do... sigh Anyway, thanks again to dramagirl, I know I might not have seemed happy with you PMing me this time but I was. You do help me each time.
So again, I'm sorry for taking so long and just to reassure people, I will never abandon this fanfic no matter how long it takes me to update. I love this story and what I have planned for it, so I won't just toss it aside. Oh! and I also have some more yaoi manga suggestions for those who are interested: Ka Shin Fu by Makoto Tateno (author of Yellow) and Othello by Toui Hasumi. They're REALLY GOOD! I love 'em.
Well, enjoy and for everyone taking exams or already had exams... good luck and I hope you did well.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Concrete Angel
Chapter Eleven:
"Are you coming then?" The naturally cold voice asked without much care, as though he wasn't really looking for an answer. Perhaps it was because he knew the blonde's answer already. Maybe he felt the same connection Naruto was feeling now, and thus he really didn't need to ask such a pointless question.
Naruto followed a new intuition and a curiosity that this strange connection awakened, and nodded.
Gaara nodded his head ever-so-slightly, then continued walking down the hallway as though he had never stopped in the first place. Naruto instinctively turned and trailed after him, settling into step beside the redhead. He wondered what the "gang" Gaara had spoken of was like. Though Naruto couldn't help but think it odd of Gaara to already have a group of people to hang out with when he'd only settled in just yesterday.
Gaara led him outside the school through the front entrance and out to the steps that led to the sidewalk. There stood two people dressed in very different fashions, like Gaara's black shirt with mess ends, black cargo pants and strange toeless boots. A girl with her blonde hair up in four ponytails, two at the top back and two at the bottom back, wore a light purple off-the-shoulders thigh-length shirt and under that she had a long sleeved mesh shirt and two mesh pieces, one on her upper left leg and one on her lower right leg. She was leaning against the step's railing, fanning herself with a Japanese fan that had one purple dot in the middle. Sitting down on the steps near the girl was a boy who wore the same kind of smug expression and together they gave off an unwelcoming vibe. He was dressed all in black and had a strange hat with cat-ear-like points that came down over his ears like one of those long, floppy winter hats. He also wore strange purple face make-up in designs around his eyes, forehead, cheeks and chin, and on his lips. Both of them had the same toe-less boots that Gaara wore.
As Gaara came closer, the two seemed to come alive and greeted the redhead with cautious voices. Then when they noticed the blond who trailed shyly behind Gaara, they glanced over him with skeptical eyes.
"Who's the blondie in the bandages?" The girl asked as she loudly snapped her fan shut, startling Naruto a bit.
Gaara didn't answer, he instead leaned himself up against the opposing railing and crossed his arms.
"She asked you a question, kid." The boy practically growled, causing Naruto to spit out his name with somewhat of a squeak.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" He hoped desperately that he hadn't sounded as scared as he actually felt, and he must have been scared because normally he tried not to mention his last name.
The two didn't take long running his name over in their minds before realization hit them and their eyes widened.
"You mean The Uzumaki?" The girl didn't necessarily ask this, completely astonished, to Naruto, it was more directed at the uninterested redhead.
Nonetheless, no matter how the question seemed to bore him, he answered it with a nod and Naruto could swear he saw something red glint in his eyes. He would have questioned this in his mind but it was soon given another topic as the other two swarmed him.
"So, The Uzumaki wants to join us does he?" The girl spoke arrogantly, and she seemed to be implying that he would have to prove himself.
"Think you can handle being a Sabaku huh?" The guy grinned sadistically, and this put Naruto ill-at ease. He felt no connection with these two that he'd experienced with Gaara.
"So, what task shall we give him?" The girl asked Gaara with sadistic excitement in her voice.
"None." Gaara answered shortly. "He's proven himself already."
The girl's brow furrowed and she quickly replied went to reply but Gaara cut her short with a deadly glare and she hastily closed her mouth. The boy didn't even try to complain or speak up, both stayed quiet until the girl leaned back against the railing and spoke unhappily. "Fine... You can call me Temari, then."
Resistantly, the boy followed suit and introduced himself as Kankuro but that was the last that the two talked to Naruto. Only two of them, Temari and Kankuro, engaged in a conversation while the four of them stood there. Naruto was basically ignored, as though he had never intruded on their lunch in the first place, and Gaara chose to remain silent with what seemed to be his usual dark expression.
Kankuro started up the conversation, saying how he hated to be taking a "stupid ten's class" that he'd failed last year, back in their old town. Temari agreed by saying that she wished she could kill the teacher that had failed her last year.
"Making me take the damn boring classes again just cuz I slashed the tires on his ugly car." She snarled.
Apparently the teacher she was talking about taught two grade eleven courses she was in last year, so he had double the opportunity to get revenge.
With this one simple topic about failed courses, the blond concluded that the three were siblings. Which explained why he'd never seen these two before and why Gaara already knew them.
Naruto's mind snapped back from it's wandered path when Kankuro called out to Gaara.
"Hey Gaara, where are we meeting tonight for the gan-"
A sharp, sinister look with promise of demise was cast from the redhead's eyes and caused Kankuro to choke on his words.
Temari rolled her own eyes at the boy, as though she found him stupid to bring up whatever he was about to say.
Naruto's features instantly filled with confusion at this. What did Gaara not want them discussing? Somehow, he felt like the only reason it was being hushed was because he was there. He looked to Gaara, but received no conformation or denial of what he was thinking, just the thoughtful stare directed at no one. At this point he wondered how he could possibly fit in with these people, but again that strange connection he'd felt with the redhead found its way back to the surface and drowned out his doubt.
"Hey Naruto, where were you at lunch?" Sasuke caught up with Naruto at the back door after school, surprised by how fast he was walking.
"Oh hey..." Naruto turned around and put on a not-to-convincing fake smile.
"You're not trying to avoid me," the raven looked him over suspiciously, "are you?"
Naruto's face flushed, "N-no, w-why would I do that? You're my friend. I like seeing you."
Sasuke's eyebrow rose, "Then why does it look as though you were trying to make a quick get away. And you still haven't answered my question."
"Oh, I-I was with someone else. They invited me to lunch and it's not often I talk with new people, I thought you'd understand." Naruto looked worried, "You're not mad, are you?"
Sasuke cursed himself, he hadn't meant to corner Naruto and make him feel this way, he was just worried and wanted answers. "No, Naruto, I'm not angry with you. I was just worried. I mean... I saw you talking to that new guy, Gaara. And he doesn't look like someone you should befriend."
Naruto's facial expression changed to one of conviction. "Why not? What do you know about him?"
"Probably as little as you do."
"I know enough!" The blonde shot back.
"Like what? Why are you so defensive, you just met the guy.?"
"I... because..."
For a moment Sasuke didn't think Naruto was going to come up with a reason but was taken off guard by his next words.
"Because he's like me..."
Silence filled the air, Sasuke unsure of how to respond, Naruto worried that he'd offended his only friend.
But just as Naruto opened his mouth to apologize, Sasuke spoke. "No one is like you Naruto."
This caused the blonde's eyes to widen and lower. He really had offended Sasuke and now he was thinking like all the other villagers. He wasn't like the rest of them. He was cast out to the cold because of his mother. His thoughts of dread and sadness were interrupted by Sasuke's forefinger, lifting his chin to have his blue eyes locked by Sasuke's dark ones.
"No one could compare to someone as brave and special as you."
A lump rose in Naruto's throat as he looked his friend in the eyes. He couldn't speak, his mouth wouldn't work and even if it did he didn't think his words would be able to get around the lump in his throat. The only thing he could do, was stare back into Sasuke's eyes, not being able to look away and also not knowing what to think.
Sasuke gazed down at Naruto's face, his eyes also unable to tear away. Yet all he wanted, was to move closer. Closer until they touched, until... as he thought this, he did move forwards. He lifted Naruto's chin even higher and lowered his face, slowly edging closer and closer until...
Sasuke paused in his advancements when he heard loud footsteps and voices coming from the stairs above them. He recognized the loudest voice to be Kiba's. Naruto seemed to recognize this too, because he backed away, giving a cautious look upwards but also having a confused and flustered face from what had taken place just before.
"Well, I should get going. Don't want to be late."
Sasuke nodded dumbly and watched Naruto flee out the door and through the small parking lot. Just seconds after Naruto had disappeared out of sight from the windowed door, Kiba came around the corner from the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh hey bud. What are you still doin' here?"
Kiba was accompanied by the shy Hinata and the mysterious Shino. Ever since they shared a Latin class back in grade ten, the three had been pretty close friends. Other than Kiba, they talked to very few other people since Hinata was so timid and Shino was... well, people thought him weird and he wasn't all that open to anyone.
"I don't know, just thinking."
"Well, me and these guys are going to hang at Ichimaru's Restaurant. Wanna come with?" Kiba offered without consulting his other friends.
"No, you guys go ahead. I wouldn't want to impose." Not to him surprise, Shino and Hinata looked relieved. Kiba, however, seemed suspicious. Somehow he could always pick up on the emotions Sasuke hid quite well. He had the senses of a dog and they often worked against Sasuke. So to try and lead him off the scent of the inner worry and feelings for Naruto that had not quite worn off, Sasuke added, "Besides, I've got some research to do."
Sasuke sat at his desk with a hot cup of Mugicha(1), his computer, and Naruto's best interest at heart. As soon as his Internet loaded he clicked on his google toolbar and typed in "Gaara Sabaku." Immediately he found several things with his exact name in bold but the first thing was a newspaper article about a court case. According to the reporter, the young Gaara at the age of six had killed his uncle in self-defense. His uncle, Yashamaru, had tried to kill him to avenge the death of his sister, Gaara's mother, but he failed to realize Gaara's power. After that, Gaara had never been the same. Before, he at least thought that someone cared and thus tried his best to be good for the sake of his uncle. But after finding that Yashamaru really hated him and never cared for him, Gaara had no hope to go one. He'd lost all positive influence and over the years sunk further into violence and hatred for people. He displayed this hatred by attacking people who merely looked at him the wrong way. When he wasn't in Juvi, he was either in court or on the streets committing some random act of violence.
Sasuke scrolled through many articles, finding things about his father being the mayor of Sunagakura, the town Gaara was born in, and one article starting with Gaara's mother. She had died giving birth to Gaara and as a result, he was blamed and seen as a monster by his father. He was basically disowned and given to his mother's brother, Yashamaru. According to the doctors, Gaara was born with something mentally wrong with him, causing him to be more aggressive and not being very capable of understanding sorrow or compassion; It also caused him to later develop chronic insomnia. Since he couldn't help accidently hurting those around him while he was young, his father's view of him rubbed off on everyone in the town, everyone except his uncle who seemingly cared for him. However, like the first article had stated, it was Yashamaru who attempted to kill Gaara.
Sasuke leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his herbal tea as he took in all that he'd read. So much had happened to this boy when he was young. Hated by everyone except one person, blamed for the death of his mother, having the one person you trusted attempt to kill you. No wonder he was so messed up, more so than he already had been at birth but he couldn't help that. He reminded him of someone. Someone close to him. But his someone couldn't- no, wouldn't do anything that Gaara had done. He wouldn't kill or hurt, he was caring and generous despite how he'd been treated and what he'd been blamed for and assumed to turn out like. Not to mention that his someone handled his past much better than Gaara had, he had never once turned to violence or given the public any plausible proof that he was what they incorrectly thought him to be.
The raven sighed deeply, running his fingers through his dark hair. "Naruto, I hope you know who you're getting involved with."
(1) I was looking up drinks, trying to find something that Sasuke would drink and this caught my eye. Mugicha is a type of tisane (herbal tea) made from roasted barley. If anyone wants to know further you can look it up on wikipedia, that's where I found it.