Alright! This chapter covers a little more of a time span that my other ones. I love getting reviews. They encourage me to keep writing because it let's me know someone is enjoying my story. Or they make me want to fix what needs to be fixed so that next time it will be bigger and better. So thanks again. Next chapter should be up decently soon. PS. I think Sasuke gets a little OOC in this, so I'm gonna try to get him back on track for the next chapter.
†Havoc
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Chapter 5: School
Gaara blinked a few times a stared at Sasuke blankly. "No," he replied flatly. And with that, Gaara did slam the door in his face. Within moments though, he was being roughly pushed back out the door by his mother.
Sasuke still stood there, a little taken aback by Gaara's response and looking displeased. Gaara heard the door being slammed behind him now. Sasuke took a few quick steps back as Gaara stumbled onto the porch so that Gaara didn't crash into him like he had with Itachi earlier that day.
"Sure about that?" Sasuke questioned smugly. He was referring to Gaara's previous reply.
Gaara just stared at him for a moment, making Sasuke feel awkward. Gaara walked over to the bench. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this. Hopefully his father would come home soon and cause Sasuke to go running. Gaara just disgusted himself. When did he ever wish for his father to be around? Never. Not now either. He could handle this on his own.
Gaara looked over Sasuke, he hadn't really gotten a good look at him before. His attention had been focused more on the older of the two Uchiha brothers. Sasuke had dark eyes, darker hair, and even darker eyeliner. The form fitting tee that he wore made him look even skinnier then he already was, and tight jeans didn't help either. "Wonder if he'd want to borrow Temari's old jeans…" Gaara mused. Sasuke wasn't bad looking, he'd give him that, but he wasn't sure why everyone swooned over him. Then again, Gaara wasn't a female.
Gaara was studying his face silently. Sasuke just stood there awkwardly letting his eyes roam from side to side. Gaara's eyes then settled on the slightly purple-red mark on Sasuke's cheek. "Hey, what happened to your face?" Maybe Gaara could find a more polite way to ask something like that next time. But he didn't care.
Sasuke knew exactly what Gaara was asking about. Sasuke just shrugged replying, "Things happen." Sasuke was trying to remain cool and expressionless, keeping up the image he created around himself. He then casually made his way over and sat on the opposite end of the bench.
"Things?" Gaara chuckled, shaking his head. "Things as in…" He paused, looking over at Sasuke and smirking. "Your brother?" He finished.
Sasuke's brow furrowed. He stared hatefully at Gaara. Gaara just laughed it off. He seemed to have a tendency of laughing at people's pain, or what brought them pain. He really knew how to set someone off sometimes. He almost considered it a talent.
A heavy silence filled the air. Neither of the two boys made a move to say anything. Gaara just sat there looking bored. Sasuke sat with his arms folded across his chest, scowling. Just as Sasuke finally opened his mouth to say something, a not-so-new-looking car rolled into the driveway, causing him to stop. At that moment, the front door opened and Gaara's mother stuck her head out.
"Sasuke will you be joining us for dinner?" She asked. The too-happy smile never left her face.
Sasuke was about to agree. He really didn't want to go back to his own home. His home seemed even more cold and empty since both his parents were away on business. Itachi didn't make very good company. They hardly saw each other, even when their parents were home. The only times were the occasional "family meal" or when one of them wanted something. Like today, Sasuke needed a ride to the music store. The only time Itachi really ever came to Sasuke was when he wanted a punching bag or someone to yell at.
The car door slammed. Sasuke was shaken from his thoughts. He looked over at Gaara. Gaara was giving him a look that almost made up his mind for him. Sasuke almost said 'No, sorry ma'am, I really have to get home,' but he didn't. He wasn't afraid of Gaara. He wasn't anymore frightening than Itachi was. Sasuke put on his most charming smile. With one last look at Gaara he replied, "I would love to, thank you." Sasuke found it hard not to laugh as Gaara sat there and seethed with anger.
Yasha clasped her hands together. "Great!" She exclaimed. "Then you two can come inside now, dinner is ready."
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The kids and Yasha sat at the table, waiting for Boku to come in from outside. Sasuke sat in the open seat across from Gaara and next to Temari. The heard the front door open then slam shut. Boku dropped his tools by the front door. He didn't bother to kick his boots off as he walked into the dining room and sat down in his chair. Boku was huffy and irritable. His job never left him in a good mood. His three children eyed him. They still weren't used to seeing him sober, but knew he wouldn't have a job anymore if he wasn't.
"Maybe this is where Gaara gets it from," Sasuke thought. He was referring to how angry the man looked. Sasuke then looked at Kankuro. He didn't look very pleasant either. "Or maybe it's just a male thing." To Sasuke, the female half of the family seemed nice enough. At least Gaara's mother did. Sasuke didn't really know Temari.
"Well, let's eat," Boku said brusquely, cutting into Sasuke's thoughts again.
Sasuke felt very awkward. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. Everyone except for Boku, that was. He hadn't seemed to even notice there was an extra person at the table.
"So who's the new boyfriend, Temari?" So Boku had noticed him. Temari's cheeks flushed the slightest bit.
Temari was about to reply when Kankuro cut it. "Actually…" Kankuro paused, a wicked grin appearing on his face. "He's Gaara's boyfriend."
Sasuke dropped his fork and it clattered on his plate. Gaara coughed a little, trying not to choke on his food. Kankuro laughed loudly, satisfied with the reaction. His eyes went wide though when he saw his father's face. It was reddening, his nostrils flaring. Boku shot up, slamming his hands on the table.
"I'm not gonna have no damn homosexual living under my roof!" He yelled.
Everyone was on high alarm. Kankuro should have known better than to make a joke like that. Sasuke was the one most alarmed. He didn't know about Boku's short temper.
"Dad… Dad! I was just joking!" Kankuro stood up and threw his hands up defensively.
Yasha was also up in a flash. "Boku, Kankuro didn't mean what he said." Her voice was starting to shake. The fear she felt from before they moved was starting to rise again.
"I—I'm not his…" It was unlike Sasuke to stutter.
Boku was breathing heavily. He glared around the table at everyone, especially Gaara. Then his gaze rested on Sasuke. Sasuke gripped the table, ready to move if necessary. Boku slumped back into his seat. He took another look around the table then began eating again.
As soon as dinner was over, Gaara shoved his chair away from the table. He was gone in an instant, taking the stairs two at a time. Right away he turned the stereo on and flopped back on his bed. Same thing he was doing before Sasuke had shown up. "I am not gay," he mumbled into the pillow.
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School was starting in a couple days. The past weeks of Gaara's summer had been uneventful. Sasuke stopped by every once in a while. The two of them had grown closer, even after the dinner experience. Both of them pretended not to care about the others friendship, though truly, both were glad for a companion.
One day when Gaara ran into Sasuke in town, he was introduced to his friend Naruto. Apparently they'd been friend since almost either of the two of them could remember. You'd never guess it though. Naruto was almost completely opposite of Sasuke. He was loud and boisterous and probably one of the most friendly people. He always seemed to be so happy and positive. Naruto was that type of person who just seemed to know everyone, and everyone knew him back. And liked him.
The three became quite the trio. When you saw one of them, you could be sure the other two were right there. Still, Naruto was the only one who actually showed he cared about their friendship. Gaara and Sasuke wouldn't drop their charade of indifference.
When school schedules showed up in the mail, they compared them. There was only one class, English, that they were altogether in besides lunch. There were a couple classes with two of them in though. Gaara had Sasuke in his art class and had Naruto in his gym and science classes. He'd been dreading the year, but now it didn't look like it was going to be so bad.
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It was finally the first day of school. To Gaara, the preceding days seemed to drag by. He stood on the corner, waiting for the bus, and looked around him. There were two other people at his stop, both girls. One had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, the other sported mid-length bubblegum pink hair. It was a very weird choice to Gaara but hey, it wasn't his hair. The two girls were deep in conversation about a topic that Gaara didn't care about.
Just when he thought their high pitched chatter and giggling was going to drive him insane, the bus rolled up. Gaara was the first to walk onto the bus. He did a quick scan and noticed Naruto's blonde spiky hair poking above a seat about three quarters of the way to the back of the bus. He made him way back to him and sat in the seat across the aisle. Naruto gave him a quick but friendly hello. He then started waving his arm in the air.
"Sakura! Hey Sakura, over here!" He called out.
The girl with the pink hair looked up curiously. Gaara assumed that she must be Sakura. When Sakura spotted Naruto she gave a quick wave and a small smile. Naruto gestured at the seat, meaning for her to sit next to him. Instead, Sakura sat in the seat in front of Gaara. Gaara chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm… And his facial expression when Sakura didn't sit with him.
"One day…" Naruto mumbled. He then began asking Gaara about his last few days of summer. The blonde girl took the seat across from Sakura as the bus took off. She took a brief moment to eye Gaara suspiciously, then once again, the pair fell into conversation.
A few stops passed and several more kids got on the bus. Then it was Sasuke's stop. Gaara thought he was having some serious déjà vu. As soon as Sasuke stepped on the bus, the blonde girl became very excited, waving her arm in the air wildly.
"Sasuke!" She called. She dragged out the last syllable of his name. Gaara wondered if she was trying to sound cute. The girl batted her eyelashes and wiggled her fingers around.
Sasuke just furrowed his brow a bit and said, "Hey, Ino."
Ino slid to the inside of the seat, making room for him. Sasuke pretended not to notice, much to Ino's dismay. Sasuke sat down next to Gaara. He nodded, meaning that to be his hello, and then slid on a pair of headphones. He turned up the volume on his MP3 player, shutting everyone out.
Naruto gave Sasuke a concerned look. Sasuke pretended to ignore him. Gaara thought he noticed the same thing, or things, that Naruto had. Sasuke seemed to be in an even worse mood then he normally was. When Gaara looked over at him, he also noticed the bruise on his cheek had reappeared.
"At least he already got his school picture taken," Gaara thought. He looked away from Sasuke and scanned the bus, catching Ino's gaze. She was staring at him, giving him dirty looks. She continued to do so every so often for the rest of the bus ride. Gaara was very tempted to yell at her. He wanted to say 'What? It's not like I stole your boyfriend,' or 'He sat down by me, not you, now deal with it.' But he kept his words to himself and instead just gave her a cold glare. "Great," Gaara thought, "I haven't even gotten to school and already someone hates me." He wasn't pleased. "And I didn't even do anything!"
The rest of trip to school was quiet and awkward. He could feel the eyes of more than that Ino girl on him. As soon the bus stopped in front of the school, Gaara shot up and threw the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder. Sasuke was a little slower to get moving though, he wasn't nearly as anxious as Gaara to get off the bus. Gaara gave him a small nudge to get him going. Sasuke's reaction caught Gaara a little off guard.
Sasuke jerked his head around and gave Gaara the coldest look he'd ever gotten, then walked down the aisle and off the bus. Gaara froze and Naruto plus a couple more students exited the bus.
"Hey! Gaara! Let's go!" Naruto called over his shoulder.
Gaara snapped back and exited his seat and the bus. Once he was outside he stopped and looked up at the school. It was mammoth in comparison to anything else in the town. Gaara looked around him and quickly found Naruto on the crowded campus. He always seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Sasuke was no where to be found.
Gaara jogged over to Naruto who was talking to two people he'd never seen before. It was a boy and a girl that must have been related. The boy had long hair, longer than Itachi's was, but secured in the same fashion at the back of his neck. The girl's hair came down to her chin with bangs cut straight across the forehead. Both of them had very pale, purple-blue eyes. That was the reason Gaara thought they must be related. You didn't see eyes like those everyday.
"There you are Gaara," Naruto said with a laugh. Gaara had just slowed his pace and come to a stop next to Naruto. Automatically Naruto introduced him to the pair. "This is the guy I was talking about," Naruto explained to them, "The one who just moved here this summer." Gaara wasn't sure he liked being introduced as the new kid. Naruto proceeded, "Gaara, this is Neji and Hinata Hyuuga."
Neji gave a polite smile and greeting. The girl, Hinata, was much more timid. Almost instantly her face flushed more than it had been. She looked down at her feet and quietly said hello to him.
Gaara quickly said hello to both of them. He then placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Leaning in, Gaara whispered to Naruto, "Could I speak with you for a moment?"
Naruto excused himself from the Hyuugas and followed Gaara as he led him away from the two. Naruto asked, "What's up? Something wrong?"
"Where did Sasuke go?" Gaara asked. Naruto just shrugged in reply. "Well, do you know what's wrong with him?" Naruto just shrugged again.
"He gets like this sometimes," Naruto explained. "He's like a completely different person." Naruto's look became a little sad. "I've tried asking about it but it only seems to make it worse." Naruto looked up at Gaara. Gaara was staring at the ground. "Try not to let it get ya down." Naruto gave him a wide grin, but his eyes were still sad.
The morning seemed to pass slower now. Gaara wasn't very interested in any of the people Naruto introduced him to. Everything he did was even more half-hearted than usual. Then, the bell sounded. They had five minutes to get to class.
"See ya second period, Gaara." Naruto gave a small laugh and a smile and headed off with a few people who were in his first hour class.
Gaara watched for a few moments as people flooded into the front doors of the school. He let out a deep sigh then joined the massive crowd. Eventually, Gaara found his first period classroom. He walked in the door to see most of the students were already there. He selected one of the empty desks on the left side of the room close to the back. Only seconds later the bell rang. The first day of Gaara's high school career had officially started.
