Friend

He woke up slowly, the last parts of a fading dream lingering in his awakening mind.

Staring at the bleak paint of his bedroom wall, Gaara considered his options. He wondered if he could get away with staying in bed, skipping having to deal with the world altogether. It certainly would be easier, familiar. He knew how to live that life; starting from the tensions at the breakfast table, then the precise timing of him leaving the house just fast enough to put a good ten metres between him and his siblings until they reached the gates of school (close enough but never too close), to absentmindedly staring at the arrow of the classroom's clock, willing it to move faster. He knew that world. He lived it daily. Yet this morning felt different. Untested with a new variable joining his world. A new world that at least partially included him.

Naruto. The blonde was a mystery. As simple as he seemed at a first glance, the clear determination in those wide azure blues sent ripples through Gaara's seemingly dead heart.

Friend. Naruto wanted to be friends with him.

He buried his face deeper into the covers as he remembered the beaming smile accompanying Naruto's face after the redhead surrendered by accepting the blond's preposition.

The corners of his mouth twitched.

He felt restless. Ever since he woke up, he felt himself fidgeting, absentmindedly smoothing out the small creases in his clothes, pulling at a strand of hair falling into the side of his face. He was lost in thought the whole time at breakfast, not even registering the inquiring glances from his siblings until their eyes locked in the mirror by the entrance where Gaara had been casting glances to assess his overall appearance of all things.

He quickly averted his gaze and rushed out the doors.

Get a hold of yourself. He chided himself internally, while trying and failing to stop the slight bounce in his steps. His steps were lighter. Instead of feeling burdened like usually by the mundane task of walking he found himself taking in the morning air, the slight breeze fluttering his red locks, the sounds of birds reaching his ears.

It seemed like it took almost no time at all to reach the gates of school. His feet stopped short a few metres away.

Being so close now, he started to feel nervous. His palms started sweating, his heartbeat picking up the speed as sounds of birds left his ears replaced by a rhythmic thudding of his pulse.

He cast a furtive glance in the direction of the gates and released a breath he was holding after seeing he hadn't yet been spotted by the blonde. Nor had he seen the yellow mass which Naruto called hair altogether.

His fingers went up to play with the strap of his heavy school bag. He carried it over his chest in a diagonal manner. Never able to do anything the normal way his father's passing words echoing in his head. He shook protruding thoughts away, willing the always lingering presence of his father's judgemental look away from his mind.

Today was going to be different. He would not let his father's ghost ruin Gaara's chances at finally having someone to greet at school.

As soon as he heard his siblings closing in on him he knew he was running out of time. He was ready. Ready to face him. Or if he wasn't he had to be because he knew if he let it play out with his siblings nearby he would lose his nerve.

Taking a deep breath in, he took a few purposely steps and rounded the corner, his mouth opening to form the beginning of what he hoped sounded a casual greeting.

Only nobody was waiting for him around the corner.

Dread washed through him, like cold passing through his pores from his temples all the way down until reaching the tips of his toes.

He had been waiting, expecting something all on his own. How naïve of him to think something had changed. That somebody would actually be waiting for him. That somebody would want his company.

He clenched his teeth, lowering his head as he felt the prickling in the eyes, fists clenched tight. What a fool. What a stupid fool he was.

After taking in a few calming breaths and a lot of purposeful avoidance of the overwhelming thoughts he managed to calm himself down enough to cross the courtyard separating him from the school's entrance doors.

He let the kids run by, shifting his shoulders to avoid the contact as he slowly walked towards his locker.

That's where he saw him.

Casually leaning against the lockers, with a slight frown on his face, the blond was idly playing with his phone. It stopped Gaara short. He stared at the sight as if it was foreign to him. Was he…? Did he…? …all along?

He recognised his own lack of comprehensive thinking as he focused on finding excuses for the reason of Naruto's idling being in the location right by Gaara's locker.

His own locker wasn't anywhere near. On the contrary it was on the other row altogether. Before he could attempt to question Naruto on losing his way a fellow student huffed at the blond, "You're in the way, man."

Gaara saw blue eyes widen slightly before a cheeky grin covered his features. "Whoops, sorry, sorry. I'm just waiting for someone," he commented with ease like the very words weren't causing Gaara's heart into override for the nth time that day.

Stupid. He was stupid. Gaara hated him. He had no right to be casually waiting for Gaara like it was the most natural thing to do. Like it was their thing. Gaara narrowed his eyes as his head started a painful throbbing.

As if summoned by his gaze, Naruto's head shot up and their eyes locked. A wide beautiful smile, no, not beautiful, creepy smile immediately covered the blond's features. "Oi, Gaara! Good morning!" the blond shouted out with a wide wave of his hand, beconning for the redhead to come over.

Stupid. Tactless. Obnoxious being. Gaara must have been insane to allow such a presence into his life. Into his routine.

He closed the remaining gap, willing himself to stay steady enough to greet his…friend. He opened his mouth, tilted his head upwards and then froze at the beaming face staring at him like he was actually happy to see Gaara.

Gaara ducked his head and quickly started fidgeting while opening his locker. He was working almost on autopilot; changing shoes, shoving unnecessary things inside, taking stuff out all the while absentmindedly being aware of the blond chattering in the background. He couldn't hear much. Not through the constant ringing of his ears.

After he had everything ready he stopped once more. He still hadn't done it. They have been in each others' presence for a good five minutes and Gaara was yet to muster up the courage to greet the blond. He didn't know why he suddenly lost his nerve after seeing the blond's smiling face. Surely smiling faces were a good thing. Logically it should reassure him more to reciprocate not completely discourage him.

He tried to take a peek through the bottom of his lashes, watching the blond's tanned fingers drum against a nearby locker as he was animatedly telling him a story of a show about ninjas he had watched last evening.

Gaara huffed out a breath. He was being silly. He didn't need to be so tense. There was no danger here. If anything, the blond seemed to be incapable of posing him any real threat. It was just a simple greeting. He could do it.

He slowly lifted his head, opening his mouth against the words, "Goo-" was as much as he managed to get out before a shrilling bell cut his attempt short. "Gah! Class is starting. Come on, Gaara, we gotta run."

Gaara blinked a few times to an empty spot that previously occupied the hyper blond, feeling a familiar prickling sensation of irritation settling in the depths of his stomach.

Stupid. Tactless. Obnoxious being. Gaara hated him.

He was going to murder him.

While the day had been progressing with relative ease, with Gaara managing to escape the teachers' scrutiny and a cancellation of the bloodbath that was PE, he almost heaved a sigh of relief of having survived yet another day. Almost. But then of course he found himself face to face with those sparkling blue eyes again.

He was doing a lot better since the morning. He no longer felt like he wanted to hide as soon as those piercing blues were directed at him. He knew Naruto didn't really mean anything with it. It was just his eyes that he used to look at things as he spoke. There was nothing special about them. Gaara felt that rationalising his thoughts helped, if only a little.

Still, he had enough calmness to be able to maintain eye contact. He watched the blonde scratch his cheek as his eyes darted around a bit.

Weird.

Then he spoke, stopping several times to fully formulate the sentence, "Hey, Gaara… would you, um, I mean… maybe you'd like to have lunch… together?"

Gaara blinked at him wordessly.

That was not something the redhead expected out of this new friendship. Acknowledging each other was one thing. Hanging out once in a while, maybe. But lunch breaks seemed…personal, habitual.

He glanced in the direction of the classroom entrance and found Naruto's two closest friends loitering around - the shogi maniac and the biologist. Surely Naruto must know how his other friends were feeling about the prospect of eating with him. He couldn't be that oblivious. The duo was practically radiating their disapproval from all the way by the entrance.

With a sigh, he was preparing to reject the blond when his eyes were drawn to Naruto's clenched fingers. He recognised that involuntary movement. Was Naruto nervous? Could it be possible for the blond to feel nervous about asking the redhead to lunch?

Gaara highly doubted that. But then again… judging from how many times he had rejected Naruto in the past, another flat rejection would be a safe assumption to have.

But they weren't friends back then, his mind unhelpfully supplied. He scoffed. He should stop making this friend thing such a big deal when it really wasn't. People found new friends all the time. Admittedly not him, but that was beside the point.

He supposed it wouldn't be fair, as his friend, to reject Naruto's very first invitation. His other friends might not like him but it wasn't like he was going for them. Surely they could find a way to coexist without ever interacting with each other.

Or so he thought.

But then the stupid blonde didn't show up to his own gathering. And because Gaara would rather be found dead than go and ask the duo of anything really it meant he didn't even know why he was in the current situation at all. No. That wasn't exactly true. He knew exactly why he was in this situation. It was because for one blind moment he thought anything that comes from the blond's mouth could be trusted.

He stabbed a carrot and brought it to his mouth, absentmindedly chewing on it.

He was only going to stay here as long as it takes to finish his box. Then he was out. With or without Naruto.

He was looking for another piece of carrot while pushing around broccoli in his lunchbox when a looming shadow suddenly blocked his sun. With clear irritation on his face, Gaara lifted his head to stare at the visibly uncomfortable looking raven. He was scratching the back of his head as he muttered something close to "what a drag" under his breath before letting his hand fall. "Naruto says he got caught by Kakashi for putting paint into his shoes and will be late." Gaara felt his eyes twitch. "He asked me to tell you as he doesn't have your number. This is such a pain, honestly, how can you be friends and not have each others' number?" he asked seemingly annoyed.

He should be minding his own business if it was such a pain Gaara thought bitterly. He felt called out. Why did he have to sit here and listen to some random guy lecturing him about his and Naruto's friendship? It was none of his business. Maybe they'll never exchange numbers. Maybe they will have a friendship without technology.

He was feeling sourer by the minute. He lost appetite. He was prepared to swiftly pack and get out without looking back when suddenly there was a hand extended towards him. A hand with a phone.

"Here," the raven punk said with a sigh. "You can copy his number from mine so you have it."

Gaara hesitated for a moment but the temptation was too much to pass by. Two pale hands shot out to grab hold of the device before his brain could even catch up with his eagerness.

A number. A friend's number.

As he cast a glance on the flashing screen, Gaara saw the number registered under the name Helpless Case. Gaara frowned. Was that supposed to sound fun? It sounded insulting. He cast a narrowed look at the looming raven, contemplating inquiring about the given nickname but decided against it. It wasn't his business.

He took out his phone and quickly pushed in the numbers. Shoving back the device to the waiting palm. "Oi, careful," the raven complained but by that time Gaara had already tuned him out.

A name. He had to give the number a name. As the teal eyes kept staring at the blinking bar under the contact info he wondered if registering the number as simply Naruto's would be enough.

He kept starting and deleting several options until he found himself stopping on a word Friend.

The corner of his mouth twisted in a soft smile.

He continued to stare at the screen for a few more moments before it blackened out. He let out a breath, startling when a voice started talking again. He completely forgot he wasn't alone.

"Honestly that guy is as dense as a stump so it's gonna have to be your job to ask him for things."

Gaara looked at him questioningly. "Ask him for what exactly?"

The raven shrugged. "How should I know? It's up to you. What you want from him."

"I don't want anything from him," Gaara said, eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure what the raven was insinuating but it wasn't sitting well with him. "He is a…friend, "he settled with that, still feeling weird around the word. He wondered how long it would take him until he felt worthy of using the word casually. "I don't need anything from him," he said that and lifted his head in defiance.

His words seemingly caused pain to the raven before he exhaled loudly and crouched down to be at the redhead's eye level. "Then that's just perfect," he said with a slight grin. "That guy is popular, it doesn't take long for people to come to like him. But it also makes him vulnerable to being used. His naive heart of saving the damn world gets him in more trouble than he wants to admit."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Nothing. Just be that," the raven said while pointing somewhere in his direction.

"Be what?"

"Friend," he said with a grin. Gaara felt his cheeks flushing at being caught, but he patted himself on the back for managing to nod mutedly in response.

"You can call me Shikamaru, by the way," the raven, Shikamaru, threw over his shoulder. "And Sakura here," the pink haired girl who had been immersed in anatomy book all the while added in with a small wave.

"I know who you are," Gaara responded in turn, watching the raven drag a palm over his face in what seemed to be frustration.

"Come on, don't be like that, man. It's a simple acknowledgement."

"Okay."

When Shikamaru kept staring at him, seemingly waiting for something, Gaara stared him down before eventually relenting. "You can call me…Gaara."

"There you go," Shikamaru added uselessly with a fake thumbs up and turned to leave with a casual wave. "See you around."

He watched the duo's retreating backs in contemplative silence. Then the doors burst open again and Naruto, panting, with perspiration covering his forehead, looked around wildly around the area until he spotted Gaara sitting at the faraway side on the rooftop by the fence. His whole body seemed to go slack in relief. "I made it," he panted out.

Made it to what? Certainly not to their lunch break Gaara silently mused as he covered the lid of his now empty lunchbox and proceeded to gather his things.

The blond kept apologising the whole way til the end of the school day. He felt sorry for leaving Gaara alone, which was exactly what didn't happen. Then he went on a long rant about Kakashi which prompted Gaara to inquire if Naruto would have stopped his prank if he could have, to which the blond could only chuckle sheepishly.

Sighing, Gaara realised he hadn't even expected a different answer. But that also meant his apology was useless. If there was no intention of ever changing your behaviour there was no point in apologising for it. He told Naruto as much, stunning the blond into silence.

The redhead was almost all the way to the school gates when Naruto called out from behind. "Hey, Gaara…"

"What?" he asked, then promoted the blond to speak up. "What is it?"

"It's just…" the blond started a bit unsure. He swallowed then tried again. "I just want you to know that if it was a choice, between following my stupid prank or getting to spend time with you, I'd choose you. Always."

That stunned the redhead into silence. In more ways than one. He felt his heartbeat picking up speed as he struggled to maintain eye contact with the sheer determination shining from the azure blues.

He turned around and started marching down the road. One step. Five steps. Ten. He stopped. He was repeating himself. He already failed like this once before today. He couldn't let it become a pattern. Bend it while it's still hot. While his body was still high with adrenaline and he could trick himself into acting. Do it. Now. Turn around.

He turned around and with head held low marched back to Naruto. He was staring at Naruto's worn out sandals. He couldn't face him. But at least…at least he could do it right this time.

He opened his mouth and let out a soft, "See you tomorrow."

Then he just dashed back home.