I don't own Naruto…
Summary: Gaara's had a hard life, and it's about to get harder as he enters high school. With the help of new friends he hopes to make it through his high school years. But as things at home get worse and confusing feelings grow, can he make it?
Author's Note: First Naruto fanfic, first fic ever posted, and very bad grammar. (Laughs) Please don't be to mean, instead if you want to 'flame' me, tell me what I could do better. Thanks.
Pairings: Neji/Gaara…Not to sure about others. I'll let ya know when I do. (Winkie)
Warnings: (in the future) violence, guy and guy loving, self inflicted violence.
A Dangerous Game: New School
By: Dead Walking Raccoon
'Crap.' Gaara cursed himself mentally. First day of high school and he was already late! If Kankuro wouldn't have flung the alarm clock into the wall and causing the annoying thing to be made into a million little pieces, he might have been to school on time. Even though he did get a few more minutes of sleep, which his body could always use.
Quickly walking into the high school Gaara thanked the gods that it didn't matter if he were late today. It was basically a day for freshmen and any upper classmen who offered to help find their classes before the real first day of school began. There were also some poor upper classmen who were forced to come by parents or hadn't realized it wasn't an official school day for them. The letter that had been sent to his house had said to go to the Gym.
If only he knew where the gym was, or even a map for that matter.
On one side of the hallway was an office. Inside was a large group of girls all huddled around some one which didn't appease to Gaara very much. Being around large groups of people he didn't know freaked him out. On the other side of the hall way was what looked to be a small hall leading to the stairs and the lunch room. No one was in there.
'Not even the first day and I'm lost.' He sighed to himself mentally. He should have asked Kankuro or Temrai come with him today. He wasn't feeling comfortable all of a sudden and looked franticly around for any signs of where the gym was. He had to calm down, breath in, breath out. Having a panic attack now wouldn't be a good start and his body was still sore from the previous night.
"Hey freak!"
'Aw shit.' Gaara turned around to see a couple of guys walking toward him with evil grins on their faces. Why couldn't people give him a brake, even for a day?
"Nice eyeliner." One of the guys, most likely the leader, stared down at Gaara. "I think my girl friend has the same kind." The other guys laughed along with him.
Gaara said nothing, not giving him anything else to make fun of him by. Two things would happen. One, he would get fed up and leave. Or two, he'd beat the shit out of Gaara. He hoped it would be the first but by the pissed look he was getting from the taller teen it'd be the later.
"What, you a mute, freak?" He taunted. When still Gaara said nothing but staring he grabbed the redhead's shirt and lifted him off his feet and pushed him against the lockers. Gaara had to bite his tongue to keep from giving any sign of his discomfort. The lock was digging into his back painfully. Letting some one know they were hurting you would only cause them to hurt you more. He knew that from experience.
"P-put me down p-please…" Gaara didn't move or try and struggle. If he did that it'd make it worse so he left his arms to dangle limply at his side.
"P-p-p-put m-me d-down -p-p-please!" The bully mocked him and earned another round of laughs from his friends. When the redhead made no moment to defend himself he became angered at the smaller boy and pulled his fist back. He punched Gaara but didn't let the whimpering boy out of his grasp and pulled his fist back again. He still had some time to waste on his new found punching bag.
"Put him down."
The freshmen all turned to look at the new comer. A guy with long black hair was walking toward them. Gaara stared into the ghostly white eyes that looked so indifferent and seemed so uncaring. He was dressed in casual clothes that didn't have one stain or rip in them. He had to have been an underclassman from his calm and cool look, more then likely a sophomore. A small crowd of girls were behind him, looking curiously at the one sided fight but finding no real entertainment from it.
Gaara felt slightly self confident about his far too large black long leaved shirt and black pants that were only being held up by his belt. There was quit a crowd around him now staring at the redhead and the bully who had found his newest punching bag.
The bully dropped Gaara on the floor to confront the new person. Gaara touched his lip and grimaced. A small amount of blood was coming out of his lip and he felt a small shiver of panic run through his body. Why didn't he make Kankuro come with him? If he was here none of this would have happened. He'd have found the gym and had skipped all of this for another day. If only he had…
"Hey." Some one, who he barely recognized their voice, said from in front of him and Gaara lifted his head from his hands to look. It was the white eyed boy, though now that he was crouching down in front of Gaara his eyes had the faintest of blue in them. Gaara moved away from him slightly not liking being so close to some one. Nothing good ever came from it. From the side of his eyes he could see the person who had bullied him and his friends walking away. "You're lips bleeding."
Gaara looked back at the boy who was in front of him and tensed. He was to close to Gaara, within striking rage, and staring at him intently. He didn't like how his emotionless eyes were staring at him.
Seeing that Gaara wasn't about to talk, the boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a Kleenex and handed it to the redhead. Gaara looked at it uncertain why this guy, who still had girls a few feet away trying to get him back to them and away from the redhead, was being so…nice to him…
Gaara jumped when the tissue was put to his lip and put his hands in front of his face. He didn't want some one to touch him, he didn't was this guy to touch him. "S-stop!" he yelped and shielded his head from any blow that might be given to him.
It was silent for a few minutes until the girls broke into a giggle at the weird redhead. "He's weird!" one of the girls said rather loudly over the roars of the others who were saying things along the same line. "Come one Neji-kun, let's go! He's a waste of your time."
Gaara tensed. It wasn't even an hour into the 'school day' and already people were thinking he was useless. The white eyed boy stood and looked at the over at the girls. Gaara felt his heart drop at the mean and taunting looks he was receiving from the girls and waited for Neji to either kick him or leave. But neither happened and instead he narrowed his pale eyes a fraction and his lips tilted down. "Leave." His voice held no room for the arguments that were at the tip of their tongues. Glaring at the seated redhead, they strolled down one of the halls and out of sight.
When the last of the girls were out of Gaara's view he looked up at the boy he had heard been called Neji. No one had stopped him from getting beat up, besides his siblings, or forced anyone who was making fun of him to leave him alone.
"T-thank you…" Gaara mumbled and stood up shakily. He whipped away the blood on his lips with the tissue he'd been given. Throwing it away before he could see how much blood he'd lost.
"The orientations going to end in a few minutes." Neji startled the redhead who he was looking down at. "What's your first class?"
Eyes slightly wide, Gaara was surprised the old boy was still their. Coming out of his daze he fished around in his pockets until he found the crumbled piece of paper. "Um…E-english."
Neji reached for the paper and when his fingers brushed against Gaara's the boy quickly recoiled his hand. He held his hand as if it had been slapped. He hoped Neji hadn't noticed as he looked at his schedule. "Go down this hallway." Neji spoke and looked up to point down the same hallway that the girls had gone down. "The second door on the right."
Nodding, Gaara took back the paper, being extra cautious not to touch the other teen. "Thanks." He said quietly and picking up his fallen gourd shaped backpack. As he turned down the corner he saw a few people walking out of a door at the end; the gym.
"That was so boring! What does Tsunade think we are? Three year olds?" a loud voice shouted. A very familiar voice. Blue eyes turned to look ahead and meet mint green ones. "Gaara!"
Being put on the spot once again Gaara managed to give a small wave to him. Gaara had none Naruto since he was six and the closet thing to a friend he'd had. He hadn't seen him in a few years though, they had both went to separate schools after Naruto moved. Now they were going to the same high school and it was Gaara's…family that had moved.
"Shut up Dobe. You could wake the dead." Looking behind Naruto saw a black haired and dark eyed boy walk around his friend.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the other as he walked toward Gaara. "Shut up Teme!" Was the retort and sticking out his tongue as he walked into the class room with Gaara beside him. "Stupid Sasuke…" He grumbled under his breath as the two took a seat near the windows.
Gaara took off his back pack and laid it on the desk next to the blonde's. "D-did I miss a-anything in the o-orientation?"
"Nah, that old hag was just flapping her lips the whole time." Gaara's eyes widened about speaking about speaking about their principle but wasn't able to question any father. "Hey, why weren't you there?"
Students were starting to come into the room now, picking their seats and seeing who was all in their first class. Gaara could feel their eyes oh him and see the look of detest on their faces. He had heard Naruto's question, but h didn't want to worry his only friend. Naruto had stuck for him since they were little when people would ask or make fun of him for the bags under his eyes. It had been when Naruto moved away that he made started putting on a heavy layer of eye liner around his eyes to hide them.
"What's wrong with your lip? It's bleedin' a little." His voice was quiet so them only the redhead would hear him. A look of determination was in his blue eyes that demanded to be answered.
"I-its n-nothing." A lie. A bad one at that, but Gaara tried. Naruto may seem like a stupid, goofy blonde with to much energy for his own good, but he wasn't. He saw through Gaara's lie and gave him a flat look. "A g-guy p-punched me…but Neji h-helped…" he whispered and occupied his self with the end of his sleeve.
"Neji? As in Hyuga Neji?" Naruto asked loudly. A few students looked at the blonde, others rolling their eyes and asking god why they were in put in the same class as him. At Gaara's small nod he sat back in his seat and blinked a few times. "Neji doesn't help anyone. He's a pretty cold person, like that Sasuke bastard…" Naruto rubbed his head and gave an annoyed grunt. "I heard he's the captain for the ice hockey team here, though they usually give it to a senior."
Before either could continue on with the conversation, the teacher walked into the class room and began the introduction that all the teachers would give them. Iruka-sensei was his name and Naruto seemed to give the teacher a hard time. Gaara brushed it off as how his friend always acted.
Spanish
Gaara walked into the class room just as the teacher was about to start the introduction. Giving a shaky excuse that he had gotten lost he sat down in the closest seat by the door. The teacher nodded and said nothing about it and explained that because the classes had been so small for the Spanish class, the freshman and sophomore classes had been combined. The sophomore groaned, the freshman quivered, and a few girls giggled.
"This form will need to be signed by a parent by tomorrow." He handed papers to the first people in each row and they would take one and give the rest to the people behind them.
As Gaara listened to the teacher explain about how the class would work the redhead turned and stared into two white eyes. Neji was behind him, staring at him in the same blank expression as before. He said something but Gaara was too lost in looking into the cool eyes that he hadn't caught what he said.
The corners of the Hyuga's mouth lifted just slightly. "The forms." He stated looking down at the papers in Gaara's hands.
Blushing, Gaara quickly handed him the papers and turned around in his chair as quickly as he could.
Art
Perhaps one of Gaara's favorite classes he would have was art. In the class no one could tell you what you were doing was wrong. It was something he thought he was good a but there was only one problem. He didn't like to show his art work.
The teacher still had yet to appear and it was five minutes pass the starting time for the class. Some of the students were looking around the room and panicking, the freshmen, not knowing if perhaps they were in the wrong class. The upperclassmen on the other hand were laid back and watching amusement and annoyance as they waited for their teacher.
Seven minutes after the starting time, a silver haired man stepped into the class room. "Yo." He announced his arrival. Gaara raised an eye brow at the mask covering his face and left eye. The man was tall but slouched some and seemed very bored. Very different from any of the other teachers he'd had so far.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake, but you can just call me Kakashi-sensei." He said in front of the class, sitting on his desk. "I guess I'm supposed to talk about what this class will be about…" the class groaned. "But I don't feel like it."
The class cheered happily and when they saw their teacher retreating to behind his desk, began to talk to the people around them. Gaara eyed his teacher and watched the man pulled out an orange book and began reading it. Even from in the back of the room Gaara could tell what his teacher was reading and his cheeks turned pink.
What a strange teacher indeed…
Study Hall
"Gaara!" A voice whispered to Gaara but loud enough for him to hear and not the teacher. Looking behind him, he recognized a girlish-boy waving at him; Haku.
Giving a small wave back Gaara looked at the teacher who was busy typing on the computer in from of him. "H-hi…"
"How's you're brother? I haven't seen him since you guys moved." Haku smiled. Gaara couldn't help but think if he hadn't known Haku because he had once been his brother's friend, he would have thought the black haired boy in front of him was a girl.
"G-good." The redhead whispered back.
Haku smiled at the timid boy in a kind and gentle way. He was about to ask him more when the teacher slapped his hand on the table. "No talking you two!"
"Yes sir!" the two said, one shakier then the other, and turned back to their work.
Science
Gaara stared at his science teacher, Jiraiya-sensei, in wonderment. He could swear he had heard his name some where before…
"…and I'll be your science teacher for the rest of the year! Even though what I really wanted was to be the Sex Ed…" he mumbled the last part to him self but the students heard it. "But that's a whole other story."
The people in the class room looked at each other and gave a raised eyebrow. All wondering what the reasons for him not being able to were.
Lunch
Glancing around nervously, Gaara looked for Naruto. Over half of the students weren't in class yet, and Naruto was one of them. Quickly walking to an empty table to sit down at and wait for his energetic friend.
As students began coming in it got louder and louder. Even if it was mostly freshman and a few poor older students. Gaara noticed that when the dark haired boy Naruto had been fighting with came in, so did a cluster of girls. They clustered around him like moths to the flame even as he shot them looks of discus.
Fallowing him in shortly after was the white eyed Neji, another clump of girls around him, asking for dates, phone numbers, or fighting with each other.
"Stupid Sasuke…"
"Ah!" Gaara jumped in his seat as some one sat down next to him. Naruto raised an eye brow at him. "Y-you scared me!"
"Heh heh, sorry." Naruto grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Taking a brow paper bag out of his bag he pulled out a few items out of the bag. Noticing Gaara didn't have a lunch out and didn't seem like he was going to go buy one, he questioned him. "Hey, you gunna eat or what?"
Mumbling 'not hungry' Gaara looked down at the table and drew imaginary circles on it. An apple was placed in front of him where he'd been drawing and looked up to see Naruto smile and bite in to the sandwich he had. "Thank you." He whispered take a small bite out of the fruit.
PE
Naruto and Gaara both walked to the gym. Naruto talked and laughed about how his day had been so fare, complaining about a certain bastard. Gaara nodded and tried to become Naruto's shade as people moved through out the busy hallway. He didn't want to bump into any one and cause a problem like he had this morning. He touched his lip as a reminder of how the day had began.
Naruto stopped suddenly causing Gaara to almost run into him. Peeking around his friend's taller frame, he cringed. The bully and a few of his friends from this morning were in front of them.
"Hyuga isn't here to help you now, freak." The bully said loud enough for some people to stare at the three still figures as they passed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto growled at the comment. When Gaara tugged on his sleeve and he looked back to see his friend cowering, everything seemed to click in his mind.
"Move it bubby and I'll deal with you later." He snapped starting to walk toward the two.
Naruto stood defensibly in front of Gaara with his fists in front of him and narrowed blue eyes. "How 'bout you deal with me now! I can take you! Believe it!"
"N-Naruto l-let's go…" Gaara shook slightly and eyes wide. "I-it's fine…"
Naruto didn't look back but could tell his friend was shaking. "It's not alright Gaara! You can't let him just walk all over you!"
"I'll show you how people should treat freaks like him!" the bully yelled and punched at Naruto.
His fist was caught however but a pale had the twisted his wrist and forested the rest of the body to move with it and shoving him chest first into the lockers. "I thought I told you to leave him alone."
Gaara stared at the white haired boy who had for a second time come to his aid that day. He watched the Hyuga said something to soft for him to hear and the bully nod. He let his grip on the underclassmen go and he didn't so much as look at Gaara as he walked away.
"I could have taken him." Naruto grunted, angry at not being able to show that he was stronger then the other. Gaara looked at him with wide eyes before turning to thank Neji but the black haired boy was already heading into the gym locker room. "Come on or we'll get all the bad lockers."
Gaara fallowed behind him once again and looked at the floor as he walked. Naruto could have gotten hurt if Neji hadn't shown up. Guilt flooded in his chest as he was given a lock and told to put it on one of the lockers and to come tell the teacher what locker number he'd chosen. The locker room was flooded with people and Gaara took a few deep breaths as he went to a more secluded area were not many locks had been placed. It was only the first day and there was still three other grades missing. How was he going to be tomorrow?
'Kankuro and Temrai will be here tomorrow.' He reminded himself.
The last two classes seemed to drag on and Gaara was both happy and distressed that the school day was going to be over very soon. History and math were great and all but being at school was a painful affair. He was already on the hate list of one person, and probably on even more now that there was only ten minutes to the end of the period. But home meant his father might be back from business or taking a vacation from 'the hassles of the business world'. In other worlds he wanted to get piss drunk and take out his frustration on of his youngest child.
He was quickly brought out of any thoughts of home when his math teacher threw a chalk bored eraser at his forehead by Zabuza- sensei. The man was tall and fit, demanding every ones attention while he went over the rules, which were a great number of them.
Gaara buried his head in the papers he'd been given the rest of the class.
Ok…so first chapter…what do you guys think? This chapter was pretty much a look into what all Gaara's classes are and such, as well as whom he knows and shit like that. I promise the next chapter will be way better.
This was way longer then I thought it would be too. About nine and a half pages…wow… (Laughs) I'm so easily amused…
Also, drop me a line or what not and tell me if I should stop and not even try or continue with this…
-Dead Walking Raccoon-