~~~Small Affections~~~
Gaara twirled his pen around his fingers, a frown flickered his face. Something about that new kid was bothering him, and for the life of him he couldn't shake it off. Something just didn't feel…right. He stared hard at the blonde haired boy, trying to discern what exactly was drawing his attention to him.
Oddly, Sasuke too was staring hard at the new kid.
"Is he thinking what I am thinking?" he shrugged, it didn't matter. "Whatever. If Uchiha is planning on recruiting him too…then I'll do it first! If not, then that blonde boy will just be a huge eye sore for us both."
The bell rang and Naru instantly shot off her seat. She grabbed her bag and all her books, nearly sprinting out the door. Gaara calmly walked after her and just as she was about to hurl herself around a corner, he closed in on her and grabbed her backpack from behind. She nearly toppled backward before she found out she was anchored to her spot. She turned around wearily and raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Yes?" she pondered out loud.
"I'm Gaara." he smirked easily.
She gnawed away at her bottom lip and clutched her books even tighter. "I'm Naru."
There was a moment of silence between them. Naru fiddled uncomfortably before nodding slightly and turned to leave. Gaara caught her bag again and she was reeled back again by his side. She stared up at him quizzically, "Yes?"
"Hi again." he remarked.
She blinked. "Hi."
"You're one of us now."
Apprehension fell over her face, she started shifting uneasily. "What? Of course I'm one of you now." she giggled awkwardly, "A normal teenage kid studying here like, uh, a normal teenage kid… I also like sports, and, uh, cars! Yup, I love cars! You know how it is, a normal kid, uh, liking normal stuff."
Amused, Gaara smiled indulgently. "Yes, I can see that. What I meant was…"
"Back off, freak!" a growl rifted the air, interrupting them.
Naru was suddenly plucked into the air like a sack of potatoes. Twisting her head, she looked at her raven haired classmate's features, pulled taut in a fierce scowl. He didn't even address her, merely casting his eyes down at her in a cursory overview before focusing his attention back on Gaara. Releasing his hold on her collar, Sasuke sat her down next to him and took a protective step forward in front of her. Her face burned in utter embarrassment, she must have seemed like a mangy cat being dragged off by the scruff of her neck in front of everyone, "Um, ano-"
Gaara's teal green eyes turned cold, "I believe it's the kid's choice who he chooses to make acquaintance with, Uchiha."
Sasuke folded his arms, his broad shoulders covering the little girl behind him like a wall, "You're too late, he's a part of my gang now. So naturally, he belongs with us."
Naru's eyes darted between the two nervously, she had an uncanny feeling of watching two wolves fighting over their territory.
The kid who had shoved her down in the morning popped up all of a sudden and took his place beside Gaara, sneering at Sasuke. "Oh jerk off, Uchiha. It's none of your damn business!"
Sasuke stood unfazed, quiet as a rock. The boy who had sent off running outside the campus popped up next to Sasuke with a mocking grin, "Oh yeah, I'm sure you're really familiar with jerking off, aren't you Kankuro?"
An arm slung around her shoulders, and she turned her face up, bewildered beyond belief, to stare into the goggle covered eyes of another boy with a shady looking sweatshirt covering the entire lower part of his face with it's collar, "Why don't we go someplace else and let those two sort this little feud out?"
All Naru could do was nod dumbly and let him lead her away.
Sai grinned to himself as he lead the new kid into a shaded area underneath the trees just outside the cafeteria doors, bypassing the benches. Several picnic tables lined up the area and there was another small fountain here featuring a cherub that sprouted water in all it's directions.
"Um…shouldn't we be, you know, in class?" she mumbled, fumbling with the helm of her sleeves. They were way too long on her, just as she preferred them to be, but she constantly had to roll them up to keep it manageable.
"It's break time now." Sai reminded her, dropping down on the grass with his legs crossed. "Oh right, um, where's that boy who was with us just now?"
Sai blinked. "Oh, you must mean Shino. Don't worry about him, he has an odd habit of disappearing from the world."
Naru pouted, "Lucky, wish I had that too…" her soft mumble was nearly lost to Sai when the breeze picked up for a moment.
Sai slid closer to her and smiled widely, "So, how do you like school so far?"
Naru shrugged, "It's okay."
"The campus?"
"It's okay."
"The people here?"
"Um, they're okay."
"Me?"
"Uh…you're okay too."
A sudden laugh from behind startled her, "Do you have any other opinion besides it's okay?" Sasuke asked, annoyed. A chuckling Kiba took a seat by her side.
Naru frowned at Kiba and shrugged, leaning forward to hug her legs. "I really don't understand what you guys were fighting about."
"Fight?" all three boy blinked, as if the idea itself was foreign to them. "Oh, that wasn't a fight. You'll know it when it's a fight, that was just daily bantering." Kiba chortled joyfully, patting her back so hard that it made it her cough wheezily.
"Oh, then it's okay." she mumbled. Everyone chuckled, even Sasuke joined in after hearing her omnipresent opinion coming out yet again. She puffed up her cheeks childishly, a vain attempt to hide their redness from the three.
"So, which one do you prefer?" Sai asked.
"Hmm?"
"Sasuke or Gaara?" he clarified.
There was a moment of silence. "Who's Sasuke?"
Said Uchiha stared at her blankly, the other two mirroring his stare in astonishment. "You don't even know my name?"
"Well… we weren't introduced properly, you know?" she retorted defensively.
"I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." he curtly introduced himself.
She smiled softly, "I'm Naru. Namikaze Naru."
Kiba grinned, "So which side are you on now? I'm with Sasuke because that Kankuro kid with Gaara really bugs me to no ends. Shino is on our side too."
"Shino?" she said blankly.
"The shady looking one who took you out of there."
"Oh." her eyes spaced out for a second while she quietened down. "Then I'm not on anyone's side."
"Huh?" even Sasuke stared at her in surprise.
"Both Sasuke and Gaara haven't exactly been welcoming to me and I don't think I want to hang out with anyone who looks down on me." she glanced away, idly plucking away at the grass.
"Therefore I'll go solo." her voice quieted to a low whisper. "It's not like I haven't been alone before, you know."
"What's that?" Sasuke asked her, thinking he hadn't quite heard that last part right.
"Nothing."
Sasuke gave her one last doubtful look before shrugging. "Okay if that's what you want." seeing her shiver from the breeze and Kiba's suggestive glance, he knew exactly what to say next. "Then at least let me fulfill my promise from before and get you changed into something dry, lest you want catch something."
Her eyes flashed liquid red for a moment, remembering his earlier prank quite vividly. But she stayed quiet in the end and nodded. She was so cold, "Okay."
All three dusted themselves off and made their way to the gym. "You can go solo if that's what you want. Still you can always come to me, I'll be more than happy to show you around." Sai winked devilishly at her and she blinked. She suddenly noticed that he had somehow moved very, very close to her.
"That's… nice and all, but who are you?" she stupidly blurted out.
He blinked himself and turned thoughtful, "That's right, we haven't had a proper introduction either." he suddenly smiled lopsidedly at her and leaned in closer, draping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, I'm Sai. I'm eighteen years old and I'm a single white male. I like long walks on the beach, sunsets and candy. But most importantly, I like you, you're cute."
Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously at his friend, damn near close to wringing his neck like a twig. He had no idea what it was, but he felt really angry for some odd reason. Naru's stomach turned seeing Sai's brilliant smile, but she tried to calm herself down. Panic started overwhelming her as her heart raced, she nonchalantly tried to wipe her sweaty palms on her pants. She plastered on a smile, "Um, you do know I'm a guy right? A GUY? Right? Right?"
Much to her ire, he chuckled. "I heard you the first time cutie pie. I'm also A GUY, though how normal, I wouldn't know." he smiled flirtatiously. "I'd suggest you spend some more time together with me to figure that out, how does that sound?"
Naru nearly bit through her lip, her hand fumbled in the rugged bag slung by her side and grabbed the familiar object in it tightly, just in case something went haywire. "What's wrong with this guy? Is he hitting on me? But - but I thought my disguise was damn near perfect! He couldn't possibly know I'm a girl, right? Or could he? Is he playing around with me? Does he know - and - oh my god!"
"Sai, back off." Sasuke muttered icily. Only then did Sai stare at the pallid looking girl in concern. "Hey, hey, you okay? The prospect of spending some time with me isn't that scary, is it?" he asked playfully, trying to calm her down.
"W-What-What do you want?" Naru whispered, clutching her bag as if it were her life. Sai frowned, the boy looked petrified and ready to bolt out of the campus any passing second.
He sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just teasing you." he apologized, smiling ruefully. "If you must know, I'm bisexual. Armed with my awesome pickup lines, my goal is to win the hearts of everyone around me! Asides from Sasuke, Kiba, Gaara, Shino, Kankuro - ahem - and you know. But yeah, apart from my closest friends, I'm pretty damn irresistible, right?"
Relief washed over Naru's face and she laughed nervously. "Oh. You're bisexual! That's great!" she giggled in a chipper tone.
Sai, much to Sasuke's hidden annoyance, immediately reverted back to his suggestive grin. "Oh. How so?"
She coughed awkwardly and covered her mouth, simultaneously edging away from him as subtly as she possibly could. "I mean, that's really cool how you're so open and - and - yeah. Isn't class about to start real soon?"
She made a show of looking at her wrist, except she had no watch on. "Wow, if we don't hurry to the gym we'll be late to class. We have to run!"
She shot up to the balls of her feet and dashed away, the boys scrambled a bit before going right behind her feet, giving chase.
Sasuke was glowering darkly while Kiba returned the look. The boys were at each other's faces, features dark and tense. Kiba bit off, "You know what? You're acting pretty weird Sasuke. Why don't you just let Sai do as he wants? Plus, you don't have any interest in guys either, right?"
Sasuke bit down a growl, slamming his locker close. He nodded curtly and they both turned around, blinking in unison to stare at the empty space behind him.
Kiba groaned. "Oh man Sai must have dragged him off."
Sasuke was running out the door already by then, his nerves only riling up even more when he heard Kiba's snark comment behind his back. "…great. Now he really may become a queer."
Naru frowned as she looked around.
The hallways were dwindling down to a few students, doors slamming close to a few classrooms that marked the start of lectures, but she still didn't catch any site of a door that may scream 'GYM' at her.
"What's the matter?" Sai asked, his own backpack now slung on his right shoulder.
"Where is the gym?"
"Oh, the third floor."
"Then why are we on the second?"
Sai rose an eyebrow and eyed her strangely, "Well, you did have a need to go and sort of change, didn't you?"
"Change?" Naru squeaked, her steps screeching down to an abrupt halt.
"Yes, change. There is a special changing room for the soccer team in our school. Sasuke has clear access to it, seeing his does play for the school's regular lineup."
"You mean, as in, a boy's changing room?" butterflies drop kicked her stomach.
"Well, that is what I would think so." Sai laughed. "Jeez…did you go home to change clothes back in middle school."
"No!…But I sure as hell wasn't thinking of changing in a boy's changing room!"
"Uh, do we have really have to?" she asked weakly.
"What's the matter? Sasuke is getting you his uniform isn't he. You're not getting shy by any chance, are you?" he joked.
"Uh, no. Of course not." she replied feebly.
"How am I going to get out of this one!"
"Here we are!" Sai cheered up and she looked up. "After you!" he opened the door with a flourish and all but shoved her in. She stumbled through the doors and Sai came in after her, closing the door with an ominous bang.
Her eyes darted around nervously, eyeing the benches and lockers with a gulp until her gaze stopped at a lonely looking stall in the corner. Relief spread in her chest, "I can use that! Even if it is for boy's, I'll just quickly change and be out in a flash!" she cheered mentally.
"Come on, get undressed already." said Sai, his own patience running thin. "We'll get late for class if you wait any more."
It was a lie, they were already well past attending the lecture now. All Sai wanted to was to see what package this new kid was hiding underneath those baggy drapes of his. "Yeah…" she giggled nervously.
Slinging away her back and plopping it down on a bench, she made her way to the stall with small quick steps that reminded Sai of a bunny. "Where are you going?"
She smiled nervously, sheepishly rubbing her neck as if she were a deer that was caught in headlights. "I'll just use that."
Sai frowned, clearly not expecting this new development but kept his lips thinned. The cards were still in his hands, he smiled, "Of course."
Naru felt a feeling of foreboding but she shook it off and went into the stall, closing the door behind her back. She looked up, surprised to see a shower and only then did she realize the stall's purpose. Her hand idly roamed near the top half of the door, searching for something to click but to no avail.
The door was absolutely smooth, much to her horror, "Um, Sai?"
"Hmm?"
"There's no lock here."
Sai's smile widened ever so sightly. "I know."
"Not even a hook to hang my clothes."
"I am quite aware of that, yes."
"Oh."
Dread coiled in her heart like a snake, "You don't need to worry, there's nothing to hide here. We're all boys…well sort of."
"Yeah." she whispered meekly.
"It's nothing, I'll just get undressed and ask for clothes over the door. It's not like they would ever stoop so low as to barge in here…" taking a deep breath, her shaky hands caught the helm of her sweater before she pulled it off and hung it over the door.
Before she knew it, her shirt and pants were off too and she was left clad in her white camisole and matching panties. Her heart skipped a beat hearing foreign footsteps from the other side, though hearing Sasuke's voice she smiled.
They were talking about something in whispers, she couldn't make out anything of it. A moment later the clothes hanging over her door disappeared to the other side of the door. She blinked, "Um, guys. Did you take my clothes?"
She heard some chuckles, "What clothes?"
Cold sweat broke down her entire body, "The clothes that were on the door."
"No."
She placed her hand on the door, chewing away at her lip. "Uh, Sasuke."
"Yeah."
"Give me a minute."
She blinked. "…Okay."
Suddenly weird squeaky noises started filtering through her ears.
"What the-"
"Hey, that's rude-"
"Damn it, that hurt you bastard!"
"We are your friends-"
They ended when she heard that all too familiar bang of the door. Her old clothes as well as ones she didn't quite recognize toppled over the edge of the door, she heard a soft grunt from the other side followed by the sound of someone's back hitting the wall. She blinked, "Sasuke, you there?"
"Yeah."
"What just happened?"
"I kicked them out."
"Oh."
Silence fell between the two, for a second Naru felt as if the door between them wasn't even there. She could see him standing by her stall's side, leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed. "Why?" she asked softly.
He grunted tiredly, "They were going to barge in on you the moment they saw their chance. Fucking ingrates."
A little smile quirked her lips, she slid the large shirt off the edge. It was really big, she liked them that way, though that was a moot point. Hesitantly, she pulled it close to her face and sniffed. It smelt really nice, almost like sandalwood, so she sniffed it again.
"You owe me two favors now." his comment broke her out of her trance.
She slid her arms in it's sleeves, pulling the jersey over her head "Yeah. I'll pay you back soon, I promise."
"You better do if you know what's good for you."
"Jerk."
Sasuke smirked, "Airhead."
Naru bristled, even from behind the door Sasuke could feel her glare burning holes in his back. He idly heard the shuffling of clothes from the stall before it went silent.
"Sasuke?"
He glanced sideways, a slender eyebrow rose when he saw her step out. His full sleeved jersey had almost completely covered her hands save for her fingertips. And coupled with his over sized pants folded upwards near his feet, he had to admit, the blonde boy looked adorable.
"What the hell is wrong with me? Boys are not cute. Handsome maybe, but definitely not cute. Lord, I've got to stop hanging around those weirdos, they are messing with my sexuality now."
"Thanks."
"Don't sweat it. I'll be taking my payment soon enough."
"Still."
"...Let's go already."
She fell in step by his side, her clothes tucked in her arms while she slung her trusted bag by her waist as usual. Even then, she couldn't help from stealing shy glances at him every now and then.
This school wasn't so bad after all.
The rest of the day had passed her by pretty quickly, she idly waved her legs back and forth courtesy of her short legs that didn't even reach the ground. Nestling her cheek in her palm, she sighed and gazed outside the window.
Many students were now vacating the fields, most of them being soccer students. Walking around in between her lectures, she had come across the fact that their soccer team was extremely strong.
But more importantly, that Sasuke was an initial part of it. Going so far as securing himself a place in the starting line up on all the major tournaments in his fresh year. This made her mind reel back to the boy sitting by her side.
He looked bored, she pouted.
Here she was wondering why he wasn't out practicing when other members of his team were, even Kiba had gone out and he was a bench warmer, for crying out loud!
"Sasuke…?" she nudged her elbow in his chest, jerking him awake.
"Hmm?" he fisted his eyes off some sleep and yawned shamelessly, with absolutely no care for the teacher glaring holes in his head. "Why aren't you practicing?"
He blinked, straightening up. This was a first, no one had ever had the gall to ask him that. This new kid sure was gutsy, he had to give him that. "Don't need it."
His simple answer made her eyebrows knit together, she was a bit peeved but in the end said nothing. Going back to waving her legs back and forth, she focused on her math lecture intently, completely clueless of the blanked out face of her seating partner staring out the window glumly.
"You know Sasuke…" she whispered, being extra mindful unlike a certain someone to not make her teacher aware of what it was she said. "…foundations are pretty important in math, you should pay attention to the lecture."
He glanced at her sharply, completely aware that she knew how useless this particular class was and what exactly it was she was referring to. Mood ruined, he looked the other way with an utterly jumbled mind. "Foundations…?" he scoffed inwardly.
"What foundations?"
"Coach!" Kiba wheezed out. "Practice is about to finish right about now. I mean seriously, always lazing around and fishing in a swimming pool or reading that stupid book of yours in front of minor students. Do you even want to coach us?"
The teacher, a man with spiked up silver hair smiled in a way that made his eyes look like the letter 'U', "That big one was pretty good too." he coolly replied.
"What big one? You were fishing in a pool damn it, there are no fish in there!"
Kakashi brushed past him, paying no heed to the boy other than ruffling his hair. Kiba slapped his hand away and watched him walk away with a fierce scowl.
Kakashi's eyes drifted off to the side, he stopped for a moment to see the strange phenomenon in front of his eyes. Blinking, he had to wonder if he hadn't been in the sun for too long.
Sasuke was on his knees, sweat dripping down his knees as he kicked the ball with such fierce energy it almost shook Kakashi to the core. He had never seen that expression in the boy's eyes, to be frank, he had always been sure the boy never even took the sport seriously.
Most kids in these rich schools didn't though, it was always a shame to watch such latent potential being wasted away to no avail. "And which big fish are you always rambling about anyways? Always telling me that big one got away, what's that even supposed to mean." he looked ready to pull his hair out. "Come and train us already, for lord's sake the winter tournament is in a month!"
Kakashi stood quietly, eyeing the boy out in the fields at such a late hour with a peculiar glint in his eyes. His eyes though, narrowed when said boy started picking up stones all around the field in a bucket instead of cooling his body off.
Realization dawned over him, his eyes widened. He smiled, "Indeed. You're right Kiba."
Kiba grinned, finally his hopes were being heard. "That one may become very big someday." and just like that, with a laugh Kiba's hopes were dashed.
Looking ready to breathe fire from his nostrils, Kiba ran after the man with no intent of letting up this time, "Did you catch a cold or something? Wait, Coach!"
Sasuke looked up, sky darkening, he wiped off the sweat from his face. His eyes went to the ball by his side, a small smile graced his lips.
He slid it up his toe, bobbing it up and down repetitively. "Sasuke, lifting is not about how many times you can do it. It's all about the balance, just concentrate more on keeping your balance."
"Yes!" he shifted it onto the other toe, his balance tipping off as the ball rolled away lifelessly. He stood there, all alone, smiling at his failure. "Basics really are important, aren't they brother?"
He got back to collecting the stones, his mind reeling back a decade.
Brother, starting today, are you really going to start teaching me how to play soccer?" a boy, no more than five with spiked up raven hair asked in ragged breaths.
"Yeah, of course." the boy running ahead of him, on a trail of stairs that seemed to have no end in sight replied, not even short of breath yet. His hair, the same shade as Sasuke's were tied in a pony tail.
"What are we beginning with then? I already know how to dribble and shoot!"
Coming onto the top of the stairs, the entrance of their personal shrine welcoming them in both boys caught their breaths for a second. "So, Sasuke…" Itachi breathed out, Sasuke snapped to attention, looking ready for a war. "...we are starting with…"
Itachi rolled up his sleeves, ignoring his little brother's form hopping all around him. "Collecting stones from the ground!"
"What?"
"Come on, get to it."
Nodding, Sasuke followed his brother and began picking off stones from the ground. Though, after an hour, "How long are we going to do this for? Isn't soccer supposed to be kicking the ball?"
"Listen to me Sasuke." Itachi mumbled, throwing yet another pebble in his bag. "These are the foundations of soccer."
"Foundations?"
"They're the most important things."
"Aw."
Standing in the middle of the immaculately clean field, Sasuke smirked.
"Damn kid. Throwing all that back at me, he owes me three now."
The moonlight over his head stretched his shadow long, it's illuminating radiance accentuating the soft smile on his face as much as he tried to hide it.
There's the next. As I said the last time, do review!