Chapter Text
The sun glared down on every student's head, leaving little to no spots with shade in the early morning. Despite the chilling breeze, the sun filled the august morning sky. It was a familiar warmth in the cold. Those who walked to school often seemed to not mind it, but for Gaara and his siblings, who had changed schools halfway through last year, the inconsistent breeze and sunshine really annoyed them. They were used to the sun viciously glaring down on everyone, no mind for the time or the person. The only time they got a hint of chill was during the deadliest of nights. As one can imagine, the temperature change was (and still is), difficult to adjust to.
The school Gaara was going to this year was one Temari and Kankuro had gone to last year, they claimed it wasn't half bad and they adjusted to the layout pretty easily. He himself had no complaints as he had been there once or twice with them, even if one of the times he got into a fight with a first year. Aside from that, Gaara had no issue with joining the school as his siblings were there and even his uncle Baki worked there.
Ignoring the people and the whole new school he had to get used to, Gaara had been looking forward to the schools clubs, he wasn’t one to show his emotions but he was definitely eager to join the high school's garden club, he knew that the garden club wasn't exactly a place a lot of people liked to go, considering the people he met last year, only a fifth of them would likely join it. He had signed up for it before the school year started, being put in the position of the clubs conversationalist. Which was considered the vice-president of the club. He was informed a formal classmate of his, Ino-yamanaka, would be the club's president, and they were expected to interact and be shown together at assemblies. He himself had no issue with it, however the two hadn’t interacted even once. However unfortunately, she had been there when he had gotten into that fight. He knew the event would follow him around and others would fear him but back then he didn’t mind others fearing him, he wanted them to fear him.
As the sun followed him and his siblings, he could see the school getting larger and larger, the front gate was perched open, allowing students inside. Despite the early timing of the three, there were already a few people around the school, some he recognized, some he didn’t.
“Gaara, if you need anything at all don't forget to ask your big sister, okay?” Temari placed her hand on Gaara's shoulder, as if to remind him that she was there. She and Kankuro were talking a lot during the walk, so she assumed that Gaara had zoned them out. Instead of a reply, Gaara simply nodded his head and looked at his sister. He didn’t say any words but Temari understood what he meant.
As they got closer to the school, Gaara ventured away from his siblings, finding a wall to lean onto while he checked his phone for his classroom number and his locker code. Gaara had done well enough on the high school entrance exam that he managed to get into the second year's English literature class. Despite his talent in English he lacked that strength in physical education, which he had been dreading especially this year. His brother had told him they had one gym teacher who, in Kankuro's words, “was a total nut case who cared too much about the power of youth and students' physical health.” He had also heard a rumor about a specific student in the martial arts club being his son. He really hoped that if that rumor was true he wasn't known for holding grudges.
In the middle of his thoughts, Gaara was interrupted by a familiar voice coming closer to him.
“Gaara! It’s good to see you!” Looking up from his phone, he saw the blonde boy he had become friends with last year. “I wouldn’t have recognized you had it not been for your hair!” He laughed as he slowed down from a run to a walk.
Gaara stood up straight, the wall no longer supporting him. His arms crossed across his chest, a small smile appearing on his face. “Its good to see you too, Naruto.” he spoke with a monotone voice, though there was the slightest hint of softness in it.
“What classroom do you have? I have A-1” Naruto stopped his stride next to Gaara, placing his hand on Gaara’s shoulder and trying to peer onto his phone.
“A-1, however during English I have B-2.” He looked over to the boy next to him, ignoring the obvious snooping coming from him.
“You’re a real smart guy y'know?" Naruto laughed and removed his hand from Gaara's shoulder before continuing, “hey, I think bushy brows is in that class actually”
“Bushy brows?” Gaara raised a brow, though he had none.
“You know, I heard that the History teacher this year is a real perv, constantly reading this romance book in the middle of lectures!” Naruto continued his talking, skipping over the questioning Gaara. His eyes closed as he spoke, resembling a fox. It didn’t help that Naruto was born with these whisker-like birthmarks.
“Really?” Gaara ignored the skipping over, just watched Naruto as he spoke. Though he was still curious to who this ‘Bushy brows’ was.
“Uh-huh uh-huh! I also heard that he wears this mask CONSTANTLY, I think he has some giant buck teeth or something under there.” Naruto turned away from Gaara, walking over to across where he previously was. He turned over his backpack to face him, rummaging in it to find something. Muttering to himself while doing so.
Gaara, following Naruto's steps, walked over to his locker to get the stuff for the school day. Naruto had been Gaara's first friend. Despite seeing the fight himself, he took it upon himself to talk to Gaara, even after knowing the monster he was. He made Gaara realize that there were others like him who were struggling. He appreciated Naruto to the fullest extent a human possibly could. During the summer, he and Naruto hung out a few times, once they even got matching japanese folklore keychains. Gaara got a tanuki while Naruto got a nine tailed fox. The keychains were placed on their bags this year, so you didn't need to look long and hard to find them.
As Gaara removed his shoes and replaced them with his inside shoes, he could hear some chatter around him. He mostly ignored it and continued to grab what he needed, occasionally hearing Naruto add into conversations. As Gaara grabbed his final book, placing it inside his satchel with his other items, he could hear a snippet of Naruto’s new conversation.
“Awfully fast bushy brows! Where ya in a hurry to?” Naruto laughed, his hands cupping around his mouth as the person approached.
“Goodmorning Naruto! I thought I would’ve been late by now! I was helping out Sanshō and her son move some packages!” The boy exclaimed, slowing his pace as he got closer to the blonde.
That voice.
Gaara knew that familiar tone of voice, he had been dreading the thought of hearing it. He knew it too well than he’d like to admit, having shame for his actions. Though his face and body language might not have shown it other than his hand freezing on the locker, he did not want to hear the boy speak. Their conversation continued for a while, Gaara listening to them speak, however never interrupting. He had been wanting to apologize to him for what had happened but he felt if he went near him, he would freak out. In the middle of his thoughts he turned his head over to look at the two chatting, not to stare but to catch a glimpse.
Rock Lee was laughing with Naruto, talking about the “curry of life” Lee had enjoyed so much. However in the middle of Naruto talking, Lee looked over and met Gaara’s gaze. A small smile appearing on his face as his eyes closed, “Goodmorning Gaara.”
…
Gaara looked away, trying not to maintain eye contact. He closed his locker as swiftly as he could before walking away. Usually if someone had said good morning to him he would’ve been polite and said a good morning back or acknowledge their words with a nod. He had no reason to ignore the boy, however his body moved before his mind could. Gaara’s head filled with thoughts as he walked away. Despite the sound of multiple students talking, the sound of the locker closing echoed through the corridor, his footsteps following close behind.
“Did I do something wrong?” Lee turned to Naruto as he watched Gaara's retreating figure. Confusion obviously laced in his voice.
“I don't think so?” He replied, turning to look at Gaara as well.
The twos conversation drifted away as Gaara walked closer to his classroom. He wasn’t sure why he had ignored him since he was the one who initiated the conversation. However he had been hoping the boy would stay away from him to make it easier on both of them.