I'm not exactly sure how long I stared at Gaara. All I know is that I soon found myself watching Naruto as he decided to introduce himself to Gaara.
"Are you from around here?" Naruto asked. "Because you sure don't look like it-ttebayo! Anyways, it's nice to meet you! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! What's your name?"
Gaara seemed rather surprised to have someone such as Naruto just approach him so suddenly. It was probably the first time anyone has ever done that to him. Which is why it wasn't a surprise that Gaara pushed Naruto away from himself.
Thud!
Naruto landed rear-first onto the ground. He yelped and rubbed at his backside, glaring at Gaara, who was no longer sitting on the swing. Gaara just stared back at Naruto, who just continued glaring at him.
"What the hell was that for, dattebayo?!" Naruto scowled. "I was just asking for your name—huh?!"
Gaara stared at Naruto for a moment and then turned his attention to us—the rest of his friends. I think we were honestly too shocked to say anything. We barely even knew this kid, even more so since it was obvious he wasn't from Konoha. It didn't help that Gaara had used his sand to push Naruto back. That was what mostly had our attention.
It's just so surreal seeing something, such as sand, just hovering around a little kid like Gaara. It was nothing we were accustomed to seeing and after our encounter with Orochimaru, that's definitely saying a lot.
"Do you…hate me?" Gaara finally spoke.
Naruto blinked. "Hate…? Why?"
This time, Gaara looked confused, not having expected such a response. He backed away from Naruto, who had finally stood up and was currently making eye contact with him. Naruto kept walking closer to Gaara, who continued backing away in response. Gaara yelped when he ended up bumping into the swing that had been behind him. Were it not for his sand, Gaara would have fallen back onto the ground.
As his sand helped him regain his balance, Gaara stared at Naruto, somewhat unnerved with how the blond continued to stare back without any hesitation whatsoever. This was probably the first time that someone had ever taken an interest in him in such a seemingly innocent manner.
"Your eyes," Naruto said. "I know those eyes."
If I recall, Gaara was six years old when he was lied to by Yashamaru about never being loved (which is a sack of horseshit). He's eight years old and, if I can even recall his birthday…he's older than Shino by a few days or so. Four days or so—go away, number four! You are a horrible number in this world.
Fuck off!
I mean Namikaze Minato was the Fourth Hokage and he ended up dying, and Gaara's father, Rasa, is the Fourth Kazekage and while he's not dead yet, he does eventually die… I just noticed that both Naruto and Gaara are quite similar in many ways and that's the most fucking obvious thing I have ever thought. Can you say, "No shit, Sherlock"?
That aside, I already brought up the fact we have at least four years left before graduation—which is when the Rookie 9 becomes a thing (give it some time—it'll happen). And that Shisui was supposed to turn sixteen this year (four times four—you can't get any worse than that). And guess what happened on that day? We lost Itachi to the Akatsuki because of shit that went on in the background. And if that wasn't enough, the Uchiha clan, one out of the FOUR Noble Clans of Konoha, ended up…yeah…
We lost everyone...
Really, the number four is just a horrible number in this world. I'm quite tired of it, actually…but I digress. I should be more concerned about the fact that Naruto was interacting with an unstable Gaara. This is pre-Chuunin exams Gaara, capable of killing people without a second thought. Cold, distant, and murderous—I have every reason to tell everyone to leave this kid alone. But I'm not—because I'm paying extremely close attention to how Naruto and Gaara interact.
And Naruto had just noticed some of the similarities between himself and Gaara. Of course, it's been years since Naruto has ever been alone, but memories as depressing as those are just so hard to forget...
No matter how much you try, you just can't never forget...
That's why Naruto doesn't want to leave Gaara alone—even though Gaara would very much like it if he were left alone.
"Those sad, lonely eyes," Naruto continued.
Gaara did not take too well to Naruto's comment and it showed when sand suddenly swarmed Naruto and forcefully flung him into a nearby wall. Had it not been for our little friend in the shadows showing up when he did, Naruto would have slammed into the wall. The dog-masked ANBU caught Naruto before he hit the wall and then gently set him down before dashing off to prevent Sasuke from attacking Gaara.
God dammit, Sasuke—do you have a death wish, little boy?!
The attack would have been rendered useless, what with Gaara being protected by his sand—which is why Sasuke shouldn't even try to lay a finger on this boy! Luckily, our little friend in the shadows decided not to take any chances with Sasuke, should Gaara's sand take it a step further and hurt him in the process of shielding Gaara. The dog-masked ANBU—Hound, I believe his name was, from what I heard at the hospital—tried to talk some much needed sense into Sasuke. As this went on, Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chōji, Shino, and Kiba ran to Naruto's side—all of them very much concerned about their friend's well-being. After what happened recently, can you really blame them for being so overprotective of Naruto?
We've been through too much to take any more chances!
Meanwhile with me, I stayed behind and focused all of my attention on Gaara, who was now observing the scene before him. There was something about the sight of Naruto being fussed over by his friends that just caught Gaara's attention. Initially, I was rather mad that someone would even dare to try and hurt my friend (it is seriously too fucking soon for this!). But then—for a brief moment—I managed to catch a glimpse at the longing and pain within Gaara's eyes.
Lonelylonelysolonely...
I thought he would have already discarded any desires for friendship by now…but I guess two years isn't enough to completely smother it. Just like Neji during the Kagome Kagome incident, Gaara was still just a child…and time was something that still existed for him.
Swallowing hard, I approached Gaara, with no one there to stop me, as Hound was still too busy lecturing Sasuke and Naruto was occupied with laughing off his friends' concerns in an attempt to ease their worries. Gaara was still distracted with watching Naruto that it was only until his sand had caused me to trip that his attention finally shifted over to me.
Thud!
Ow…I do not appreciate being tripped—especially if it causes my glasses to fall off my face! The only reason I haven't invested in eyewear that would negate such a problem, as I have been suggested to many times by Iruka, is because I need to be able to take my glasses off with ease—for my shurikenjutsu.
The convenience makes a difference!
And I honestly don't feel like replacing these glasses! I've managed with them so far, after all—annoyances and all. It'd be a waste to change that now and I'm totally getting off topic! I should be focusing on finding my glasses because talking to Gaara when he appears to me as nothing but a bit of a red blur is not exactly something I wish to do—especially when I'm this close to him!
As I fumbled around the ground for my glasses, I felt grains of sand move and soon, my hand came across the familiar frame of my circular glasses. I picked them up and placed them on my face before focusing my gaze on Gaara. He no longer seemed so cold and distance—rather, he actually seemed nervous.
Hello?
Gaara struggled to find his voice as I got off the ground and dusted the dirt off my clothes. I was a little surprised to see that I was slightly taller than Gaara…slightly. I wasn't exactly the tallest person in my circle of friends. Even Hinata, who was also quite short herself, had a couple of more centimeters on herself in comparison to me. And Naruto…Naruto was actually amongst the tallest of our group, as a result of the proper nutrition he has received from eating Akimichi clan food. Who knew that his short height had just been a result of a poor nutrition?
Actually, that makes sense and I'm seriously glad I got to Naruto when I did.
I remembered that Gaara had been born prematurely—which could have had a hand in his slightly smaller stature. The more I stared at Gaara, the more he struggled to say something. He was not used to being stared at like this and it really showed. He honestly reminded me of…well, me. So I decided to help him out and took the initiative in breaking the ice between us.
"Eat?" I still wasn't good at talking to people that I barely knew and it was a bit of a nervous habit of mine to resort to saying, between two words, "eat" or "food", in situations such as these.
But, to my complete surprise, Gaara nodded his head and followed me as I walked him over to Naruto and the others. Everyone had been silent when they saw me with Gaara and when Sasuke rushed over to Naruto and shielded him from Gaara's sight, Gaara finally spoke and told us his name.
"I'm Suna no Gaara," is what he told us and, from there, after a brief introduction from the rest of us, he came along with us as we went into town.
Sasuke was still wary of Gaara, Naruto was trying to get close to Gaara, and Gaara was just overtly cautious of his position. He was willing to take his chances, but at the same time, he was completely on edge. It took me a while to realize that no one in Konoha would know anything about Gaara—of what he is and what he is capable of. So with no one looking at him as though he was a monster, Gaara had found an opening. And his overtly cautious behavior was an insecurity that we would eventually find out and leave him.
He doesn't want us to abandon him...
The more I think about it, the more I realize that Gaara is lying to us through omission by depriving us of what may as well be crucial information about himself. I know this kid has killed—even more so than we'll probably ever kill within our shinobi career (that hasn't start yet for any of us—Gaara included). My thoughts are starting to hit morbid territory. At the same time, the realization of why Gaara was doing this was just so sad.
He still has some hope left in him...
Just when Gaara had given up all desire for friendship, he receives an opening in the form of an unexpected visit to Konohagakure, where he is amongst people who know nothing of his past. The one moment he puts aside the intent to kill in order to prove his own existence and to gain recognition from his own village and it's just to make friends (I'm assuming that's his intent from our interactions). Again, it's just sad.
So very, very sad...
It just got even sadder when I noticed that Gaara had seen the stares that Naruto was receiving from the owners of the convenience store we were visiting.
He knows those looks...
God dammit, I'm not supposed to be having feels—go away, tears!
"Are you c-crying, Chōko-chan?" Hinata suddenly asked me.
"N-No—I just got something in my eye!" I said…you know, like a liar as I took off my glasses in order to rub my eyes. "Can we talk about this some other time?"
I'd rather not do it here, where we could potentially cause a scene.
"Aww, is leader worrying about something?" Kiba asked as he plopped himself onto my back, with his head propped on top of mine—because Kiba has no sense of personal space and likes to remind me of how short I am.
By the by, somehow…I am still leader. I don't know why, but everyone refused to hear me out when I told them I wasn't fit to be leader. Despite my reckless actions during our confrontation with Orochimaru and Sasori, my friends still trust me and just…it's touching, really. I do recall crying when they told me that at the hospital. Because I am still emotional as ever, and that might be something that won't ever change about me—no matter how hard I try.
…
"So why is it that you were crying?" Shino asked me, moments after we had all left the convenience store.
"I just don't like how people keep staring at Naruto like that." Technically, I'm not lying, since I really hate the way Naruto is treated (which is still a hell of a lot better than it had been before I had befriended him and the circle of friends became a thing—which honestly says a lot). And my friends know how much I get worked up over something such as that, so everyone just chalked it up as Chōko being Chōko.
Since I had brought it up, Gaara decided to ask Naruto, "Why do they stare at you?"
His question had caught Naruto off-guard. It's probably been a good while since Naruto last even thought about that—he has us, after all.
"I don't know," was all Naruto could even say. "But I don't care—I'm not alone! Right, Chōko-chan?"
"That's right!" My response was almost automatic, yet reassuring to Naruto, who just smiled widely.
"And you're not alone, too, Gaara!" Naruto's words garnered a rather shocked reaction from Gaara, who had dropped the huge bag of snacks he had bought for himself at the convenience store.
"I'm not…alone…" Gaara repeated Naruto's words.
Naruto nodded his head and proceeded to pick up Gaara's scattered snacks off the ground. "That's right—you have us!"
As if to make a point, the rest of us started helping Naruto with picking up Gaara's snacks off the ground. Only Sasuke refrained from doing so, his gaze still on Gaara, who just stared back. It was probably difficult for Sasuke to forget the fact that Gaara had flung Naruto into a wall…but after seeing how accepting Naruto was, Sasuke decided to stop holding a grudge and started helping the rest of us out.
And Gaara just continued to stare at us, not knowing how to react. Unlike Naruto, Gaara managed to stay calm and composed, but he did seem content.
…
Afterwards, we visited an Akimichi clan restaurant, where all of us took the time to get to know Gaara. Shikamaru was straight to the point, asking Gaara why someone from Sunagakure was doing in Konohagakure.
"My father is here for some business with your Hokage," Gaara explained calmly. "I don't know the details, but…did something happen here?"
I grimaced. "Yeah, about nearly two weeks ago—we don't like to talk about it."
I mean, we lost Itachi, Orochimaru tried to kill me, Hound got poisoned by Sasori—the list goes on. It was psychologically traumatizing and will likely haunt us for the rest of our lives in the form of nightmares. Speaking of Sasori, I'm starting to connect the dots. It's because of his appearance in Konohagakure (with Orochimaru) that brought the Kazekage here for business with the Hokage. And I doubt Rasa would risk leaving Gaara behind in Sunagakure, so that would explain why Gaara is even here in the first place.
Could be...or maybe it's something else?
I wouldn't know, since there's only so much I can do on my own when it comes to figuring these things out. That aside, this is one hell of a domino effect—like holy fuck! I should be concerned, but I'm not.
Bluh, I'll worry about that some other time...
"So who's your father?" Naruto asked after he finished off his seventh bowl of udon.
Gaara blinked a few times and nodded his head. "He's the Kazekage."
Naruto was a little confused as to what Gaara meant until Shikamaru explained it all. Afterwards, Naruto looked ecstatically at Gaara. "Really?! That's awesome!"
"Not really…" Gaara replied as he picked at his food with his chopsticks. He was eating salted tongue and gizzard, by the way. I'm honestly surprised my clan's restaurants even serve this type of food, but eh, you learn something new every day. I'm quite partial to tongue, anyways—I grew up in a typical Mexican family in my past life. There are a lot of things I have eaten or seen eaten that I don't even question. So I'm quite open-minded about food…for the most part. I still do have my moments, but it's more of me reacting in a way to finding out that it can be eaten and—ooh, my tonkatsu is here!
"Isn't that your fifth plate?" Why yes, Gaara, it is.
"Isn't that your fifth plate, too?" Two can play at that game.
"Sixth, actually." Damn, I suck at counting sometimes!
"You guys eat a lot." Well, no shit, Kiba, you're looking at two jinchuuriki and a girl with a fast-metabolism. Oh wait, only some of that information isn't classified—never mind!
Now I feel stupid…good thing I didn't say anything! I'm just gonna eat now before I do…Om nom nom…
"Slow down, Chōko-san," Neji tried to warn me. "You don't want to choke."
I stopped chewing and stared at Neji for a moment. Ever since the incident on Shisui's birthday, Neji has been quite overprotective of me. Well, to be fair, everyone has been, with Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji being the most prominent of the bunch—they watched as Orochimaru broke my ankle. I think that's enough reason to worry about me.
There's also the fact that I seem to have a death wish myself, no thanks to my tendency to be so freaking impulsive.
Shikamaru certainly worries a lot when I say something without thinking. Which is why the jerk has been using his Kagemane on me to shut me up. It gives him practice and it keeps me out of trouble. I still don't appreciate it because he keeps doing it without warning me!
Not cool, dude!
And let me tell you about the Kagemane—it feels weird. It's as if someone or something is touching your entire body and moving you like a puppet—except no one is there. It's kinda creepy the more I think about it and I should stop getting distracted and focus on the fact that Gaara wants to ask me a question.
"What is it, Gaara?" I'm glad I didn't blurt that out.
"Are you and Chōji siblings?" Gaara asked as he looked at Chōji and me, most likely finding similarities in our facial markings and the fact that we wore the same clothes.
"Yeah…we're fraternal twins," I replied. "Chōji's older than me by thirteen minutes though—say, do you have any siblings?"
Gaara blinked and looked down. "…"
Oh crap—I hope I didn't bring up a touchy subject. I know Temari and Kankurō aren't exactly the closest to Gaara in this current day and age.
"Two of them," Gaara suddenly said, catching me off-guard. "A brother and a sister, both older than me…we're not that close."
"Eeeeh?" Naruto looked perplexed. "You're not?"
Gaara shook his head. "They're…busy."
More like they're not allowed to interact with you and you might have scared the shit out of them with death threats—but details.
"Ah, I see…" Naruto seemed to understand. "Say…do you want to see our brother, Shisui?"
Gaara tilted his head to the side. "Brother?"
Naruto grinned widely. "Yeah! What do you say, leader?"
"Well, I don't mind paying Shisui a visit." So long as Hound is following us, then I'm fine going to Naruto's house…the paranoia is hard to ignore.
…
…
I'm pretty sure Gaara was confused when we took him out into the backyard, where Shisui's tree was growing. He was expecting a person…and when Naruto gestured at the tree and introduced it as Shisui, Gaara stared at the tree for a good three minutes.
"It's a tree," was all he said.
Tch, yeah, it's a tree—a magnolia, to be precise! And it sure is growing healthy and fast. Must be the Yamanaka touch…speaking of Yamanaka, I wonder how Ino is doing at Yamanaka Flowers…Probably bored, as usual. Maybe we should do her a favor and sneak her out—that sounds like a good idea and I am such a bad influence.
"It might be a tree, but it's also Shisui-nii!" Naruto explained to Gaara. "I read somewhere that if you want to keep a soul in this world, then you plant a tree over their grave! And because we planted this tree over his ashes, it absorbed Shisui-nii's soul and keeps him here with us-ttebayo!"
"…So the actual Shisui is dead?" That's all Gaara seemed to have gathered from Naruto's explanation.
Naruto pouted. "He's not dead! That's Shisui-nii right there, looking over all of us, dattebayo!"
"And one isn't truly dead until they are forgotten," Shino brought up. "That is what Shisui-san told us."
"And I doubt we'll ever forget a guy like him," Kiba remarked. "Thanks to him, Hanabi keeps calling me, Nana."
It's funny how that happened, because, up until then, Hanabi usually referred to Kiba as, "Kiki." Even though Hanabi is two years old and getting better and better at talking every day, when it comes to names, she hasn't really changed. I swear she's doing it deliberately. Of course, I don't have anything to really care about because I get called Chōchō, Hinata is Nee, Neji is Nii, Shino is Nono, Shikamaru is Shika, Chōji is just Chō, and Itachi was Chichi…it's as funny as it sounds.
It was even funnier for me because of two reasons. Whenever Hanabi called Itachi, "Chichi", I kept thinking of Chi-Chi from the Dragon Ball series. Then my immaturity kicked in and reminded me of what I usually associated the term with—that being a certain slang term in Mexican Spanish that I grew up knowing, because past mom was like that. She is what I would refer to as a traditional Mexican mother…for various reasons.
People joke about la chancla, but it's fucking real!
Now that Itachi is gone, any sense of humor there was with the nickname disappeared. Because Hanabi keeps asking us, "Where's Chichi?"
We have yet to tell her and just…it's complicated. Because if there's one thing I know about Hanabi, it's that milk and bananas are her favorite food. I've also learned a lot of things from the Dragon Ball series, and that is that Chi-Chi's name is based on the word "Milk" in Japanese. I am aware that there are other meanings, but they are irrelevant because Hanabi deliberately calls Itachi, "Chichi" because of the word, "milk."
You would not believe how much hell Shisui gave Itachi when he made that connection. That was where most of the humor came from, because Itachi went from "weasel" to "milk" within a matter of seconds, thanks to Hanabi. Of course, it was also Shisui who pointed out that Hanabi was associating Itachi with something she loves—that being, milk, so, in hindsight, it was a rather affectionate nickname. Which is why we have yet to tell her anything about Itachi's departure, because it would devastate her.
A two-year-old, like Hanabi, doesn't need that.
Not after all that has happened...
"Is this Shisui…someone who loved you?" And I don't need the feels that come from analyzing Gaara's situation! Uugh, he's probably trying to see if there are any more similarities between him and Naruto—holy shit, there is another similarity and that is just scary.
Shisui is basically to Naruto what Yashamaru is to Gaara—minus the lies and deceit. That is just…I need a moment.
"Shisui loved all of us," Sasuke decided to answer Gaara's question. "But he was the closest to Naruto…like brothers."
"Aren't you his brother?" Where the heck did you get that question from, Gaara? Wait, wasn't there this whole reincarnation bullshit that made Naruto and Sasuke technically brothers…?
…
Well, I need another moment.
Nice to see that I'm not the only one dealing with some sort of reincarnation bullshit...
"He's not my brother," Naruto was quick to say. "I mean…Sasuke?"
Sasuke has a certain look on his face, almost as if he had just recently made a connection and— "Not blood-related, at least—but yeah, we're brothers."
Well, looks like Sasuke is taken with the idea of him and Naruto being brothers. That's…adorable.
"I'm not calling you Nii-san, if that's what you want." Naruto's not denying it!
"I won't leave you, if that's what you're worried about." I think that settles it.
"What happened?" Aaaand Gaara unintentionally ruined the moment.
"People die—that's what happened." Sorry if I sound a little blunt and insensitive—that is totally not my intent. I just…rather not talk about it. "Sorry…"
"Are you having n-nightmares again?" Hinata asked me.
"She was falling asleep in class," Shikamaru remarked as he turned his head to Chōji.
Chōji, don't you fucking say anything— "She had a nightmare about that snake guy again."
"Chōji!" I whined. "You said you wouldn't tell!"
"I wasn't…but then I saw you freak out when you saw a snake." Let it be known that Chōji was the overprotective older brother when he wanted to be.
"Stupid Hibachi," Naruto spat. "He's probably going to start picking on you, since you got him in a lot of trouble."
"Well, excuuuuse me for having a snake phobia!" As if I could even control something like that! "I didn't even know I had one until today!"
Uugh, I'm getting goosebumps from even thinking about that snake! Fucking Hibachi—I hope he steps on Legos! Wait…Legos don't exist in this world.
…
Dammit, there goes me ever using that when I'm pissed off at someone! Now I'm pouting…that's the most appropriate term I could use, because I look and feel like a child not getting their way. Okay, who's hugging me?!
"Sorry…you look like you needed one," Neji says after I tensed up. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No—I'm good with this." Hugs are nice…and speaking of hugs, Gaara looks like he also needs one. "Do you need a hug, Gaara?"
"What?" That definitely caught Gaara by surprised. I think it's safe to say that Gaara has never been asked that and—dammit, feels, go away!
"Chōko-chan asked if you want a hug," Naruto repeated. "Do you?"
Gaara clutched his head, almost as if he had been in pain. "Guh…"
"Is something wrong-ttebayo?" Naruto looked questioningly at Gaara. When Naruto took a step toward Gaara, Gaara backed away and yelled, "Stay away!"
I really didn't like the sound of that. While Gaara has managed to stay calm, so far, he still was rather unstable. Of course, only I knew that and when I saw Naruto walking closer to Gaara, purposely ignoring Gaara as he yelled at Naruto to stay away, out of concern for someone he barely even knew and probably considered a friend already…a surge of panic overtook my body.
I pulled myself out of Neji's embrace and ran towards Naruto. I could already feel my heart beginning to race as I thought about all the possible scenarios that could play out at this current moment. I should have known that what went up would eventually come down.
Gaara's attempts at integrating himself within our circle of friends were no different. It was only natural that Gaara would come across a bump in the road: His inability to comprehend genuine compassion after the traumatizing experience of being betrayed.
Even if it was a lie, Gaara didn't know that and Yashamaru ruined any possible chances of Gaara accepting the fact that people are capable of caring for him. Two years isn't a lot, but trust is something that is difficult to fix once broken. Like paper crumpled up and smoothed out afterwards. It'll never be the same again.
Naruto means well, but sometimes, his actions were like mine—done without regard of any consequences. While I had a knack at getting myself into trouble because of it, I'd rather not let the same happen to any of my friends. As I pushed Naruto out of the way from the wave of sand that had meant to hit him, instead of me, I realized something.
This is why my friends still trust me.
Because I care.
I care so much.
So very, very much...
As I lay on the ground, the impact of Gaara's attack having knocked me down, I find myself smiling upon hearing my friends call my name out of concern. I was hurt. Not too seriously, but still hurt…the pain was evident, as were the grains of sand that were still on me. I should be scared—and I am—but seeing my friends rush to my side was quite reassuring.
And I realized something else. This life—as complicated and frustrating as it was at times—wasn't so bad. Even if I did leave many people behind in my past life…even if it was quite the horrifying experience to live in a world, where child soldiers were the norm (because hey, that's what the shinobi life entails)…even if it meant experiencing the shitstorm the future was…I still don't mind.
Because I'm not alone.
It just took me this long to finally realize that myself...
…
Hound might have reacted a tad bit too late, but he was still there to protect us from Gaara, who was struggling to control whatever it was that was conflicting him—Shukaku, most likely. I have long since suspected Hound's identity from the day I first saw his mask. It only made sense as to why he would be tasked in watching over Naruto, who carried the Kyuubi inside of him.
It became painfully obvious when Gaara slowly began to calm down the longer he stared at Hound. And the silver hair was a dead giveaway to begin with, despite the fact that I have seen other inhabitants of this village who possessed the same hair color. The same hairstyle, on the other hand—not so much.
I still like to pretend that Hound's identity was still a mystery to me. It was all the more fun to play along, when the others start speculating what is under the mask. I once suggested another mask as a joke, to which Naruto quickly shot down because of how redundant it was. It was funny…because my joke held truth to it. It's nice enjoying irony in its harmless and humorous form.
Eventually, Gaara regained control of himself and stared in horror at the damage his instability had caused. He looked at every one of us, his gaze soon falling upon me. This was probably the first time in years (two, at least) that he had felt guilt about hurting someone. It was probably also confusing, because, up until today, Gaara had probably grown accustomed to killing people without hesitation. Then Gaara was approached by Naruto and I guess that's what threw him off.
Because Naruto had that effect on people.
Speaking of Naruto, he was struggling to understand the situation. When he had barely uttered Gaara's name, Gaara couldn't handle it anymore and ran off into Naruto's house. Naruto called out to Gaara before following him into the house, with Sasuke following him in, moments afterwards.
Hound sighed at the scene of events he had witness before looking back to check up on me. When he confirmed that I wasn't dying, Hound took off into the house, leaving the rest of us behind. By now, I was growing tired of laying on the ground and started to sit up. I struggled at first…then Kiba, the last person I would ever expect, held out his hand to help me.
Even now, Kiba is trying his hardest not to retch as he helped me stand up. It must have been complete torture for him to be around me, while I'm bleeding. The lengths people will go for those they care for is amazing. I just hope Kiba isn't straining himself.
Hinata tried to help Kiba out by covering his nose with a handkerchief she carried on herself. It helped a little, but not enough. Despite this, Kiba was thankful and when Shino pushed Kiba aside to take over, allowing the Inuzuka a chance to distance himself from the scent of blood, Kiba ran off to the farthest corner of the backyard and threw up in a couple of bushes.
I should focus on the current situation, but honestly, these Team 8 interactions are quite endearing to the point that they are quite distracting. Shikamaru and Chōji brought my attention back to the fact that I was injured, with Neji offering to carry me to the hospital. I didn't get a chance to say anything because Shikamaru used his Kagemane on me to keep me still while Chōji picked me up and set me on Neji's back.
"I wasn't going to say no…" was the first thing I said when Shikamaru relinquished his hold on me. "And stop doing that! You're going to exhaust yourself!"
Did you not learn anything from our encounter with Orochimaru and Sasori?!
Go back to being a baby sloth—you're starting to worry me!
"I'm not risking anything around you, leader," Shikamaru remarked. "You're more trouble than you're worth sometimes."
"I guess you can say I'm troublesome." I grinned at Shikamaru he just stared at me.
"That was a bad, Chōko." I know, Chōji…I know.
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A/N It's rather difficult working with young Gaara, especially since this is post-Yashamaru. Then again, in canon, Gaara never did leave Sunagakure at such a young age and met Naruto. And Chōko already made the connection as to why Gaara would even be in Konohagakure. Basically, you have Sasori to thank for Gaara's appearance. Because I doubt Hiruzen would ignore the fact that missing-nin from Suna infiltrated Konoha, alongside Orochimaru.
Seriously, that is quite the domino effect that basically starts with Itachi never leaving his village, because of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. And let me just say, it doesn't end there. There is still more to come.
That aside, Sasuke and Naruto consider each other brothers and I consider that an accomplishment. And if there's one thing I learned from ChibiFoxAI, there's this connection between Naruto and Sasuke involving them being the reincarnations of Kaguya's sons. I seriously need to sit down one of these days and just binge-read Naruto. Knowing me, I'll binge-read another part of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure before that happens.
Chōko is still emotional as ever, with a protective side to her, as shown by how she took a hit for Naruto. Gaara is trying to take advantage of his situation in Konoha, but failing because Shukaku is still a thing and basically, Gaara is conflicted. The poor kid can't get a break. It's not always easy being a jinchuuriki.
Especially since Naruto can't fully sympathize just yet, because he isn't aware of his jinchuuriki status, like Gaara. And if anyone is wondering about the whole Mexican Spanish slang thing Chōko associates Itachi's nickname, "Chi-chi", it's because it can mean breasts. Again, Chōko is immature sometimes—she has established that.
And yes, I am Mexican. I make jokes about it with my friends, mostly in good humor since most of my friends are also Mexican (basically our way of relating to each other). We usually go on about the stuff we eat, like nopales (cactus), chicharrón (fried pork skin), and tongue, and also relate when it comes to our families (our mothers, most prominently)—especially when we're playing Cards Against Humanity (we are horrible people).
That's enough about me. Also, in regards to Chōko's nickname from Hanabi, I couldn't help but think of Chōji's kid, Chōchō, from the last chapter. And let me just say, I still have questions in regards to how Chōji and Karui ended up together, but god damn, is their kid beautiful. Like, damn, good genes right there. I'm just…Chōchō is precious to me. As are the other children—they're beautiful, dammit! I don't know about you guys, but a lot of my OTPs ended up being canon and just…yeah… I needed a moment when I heard.
Also, I think it should be fairly obvious who Hound is by now. Anyways, I got a lot of anonymous reviewers from the last chapter and it's nice seeing that you guys are giving yourselves names to differentiate yourself. Except reviewer #120 had the luck of just being guest, so I'll give an honorable mention to anonymous reviewers Renton and Pinoy. Shout out goes to HungryLioness for being reviewer #130! Also, shout out to tsubame . hayakaze (remove spaces), for being a Jojo fan! Love your SI OC fic, Scarlet Waters, by the way!
Speaking of SI OC fics, I did a second read-through of Catch Your Breath by Lang Noi (which I highly recommend) and I made a bit of a discovery. Ahaha, looks like I wasn't the only one who named Hinata's mother, Himawari…but seriously, that fucking coincidence with Uzumaki Himawari. I will NEVER get over it. Because days before I found out about Uzumaki Himawari, I was asking ChibiFoxAI for an opinion of whether to name Hinata's mother, Himawari or Hinagiku (daisy). She preferred Himawari (I was already leaning towards it because of the meaning it held in Japanese), so I went with it and just…ya.
So nineteen chapters, huh? Yeah, I feel accomplished. I'm gonna hit that milestone soon, that being me getting this story past twenty chapters. It's been a slow run so far, but I smell a time skip coming sometime in the future. So watch out.
And Neji/Chōko is still in the lead, Shikamaru/Chōko in second, and Naruto/Chōko has been getting a lot of support as of recently, like wow. They're still young, so it won't really take effect until they're older, but again, it's something to keep in mind. I am also aware that Ino has had the least interactions in this story and I'll try to fix that.
So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because I sure did! A lot of you guys were pretty happy with Gaara, so I hope I didn't botch anything up with this chapter. So that's it for now, until next time everyone! KD out! XD