Love can occur in the strangest of places

Summary: Naruto begins at a new school, he's sixteen and alone. One day he falls in love with one of the richest and most popular guys in school, the redheaded Sabaku Gaara. Question is, how will he make Gaara notice him when he is an orphan and poor? Shonen-ai.

Pairing/s: As if it wasn't obvious in the summary… anyway, GaaNaru. Oh, and a bit of ShinoHina.

Warnings: Shonen-ai, mention of child abuse, Naruto quiet, withdrawn and rather smart. Dunno what else… Yeah, some character-bashing; Kiba, Sakura and Ino… maybe some more but these three stick out. They need to be for this fic. Also, AU.

Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto.

Other notes: I don't know what happened to me but suddenly I had this strange urge of writing a one-shot where they were in a normal world so to speak and goes to school like normal. No powers, although Naruto is a good fighter.

Enjoy!

-o-

Konoha High School Academy was a rather normal school in the town Konoha. It was the usual busy corridors during breaks of classes, chattering students and mock-bickering people. Rich and poor were mixed. Just like any other place.

Despite this, the new transfer-student Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but feel this school was very strange and not so welcoming. Everyone was friends with someone, therefore freezing him out. But that was okay he guessed; he was used to it.

After all, who would care about a guy that acted like a scared girl?

-o-

Naruto quickly learned he was the lowest person in his class. Just over him was a guy named Aburame Shino; before he had been the lowest. Naruto felt a bit happy about it despite it all; the guy would probably feel a bit better not being the lowest anymore. It was nothing wrong with Shino; it was just he refused to speak and even the teachers had given up. Snapping up a conversation, the blonde teen learned Shino had not spoken since he was five years old.

Something must have happened. He didn't try to make the brown-haired teen talk but sat down with him when it was lunchtime, and after a while, Shino seemed to accept it and even shared his bento with Naruto a few times. They would sit in a corner or alone; they both were too used with it.

Then all of the people in the class seemed to be popular. The most popular was of course Uchiha Sasuke; all the girls, even some of the older ones, fawned after the guy. He had a brother, Uchiha Itachi who was rumoured to be even more beautiful but the teen had graduated and started university in another city. Naruto did not dare ask anyone how Itachi-sempai looked like; he didn't like being yelled on.

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were the popular girls and very, very loud. They argued all the time, over this over that, who Sasuke belonged to and bla bla bla… no wonder Sasuke's eyebrow had a permanent twitch.

Hyuuga Hinata was kinder at least. She was a bit shy and spoke softly to whomever she happened to talk to. She had an older cousin, Hyuuga Neji, who was one of the popular guys as well. Sometimes she spoke to them, asking them questions about their daily lives and never expecting them to answer her truthfully. She just wanted to make them feel more comfortable, and Naruto had to admit to a point she succeeded.

The one who enjoyed irritating Naruto and Shino the most was Inuzuka Kiba. He was loud, demanding and thought he could make the two do anything to escape a so called friendly beating from him. Naruto didn't call it friendly beating but 'a hard jab that made you loose your lunch from your stomach.'

"Oi, dead-last!"

Naruto flinched slightly at the nickname and turned his head, annoyed. Kiba grinned at him and said:

"Oi, lend me some money and I'll let your pretty nose be intact." Naruto had been threatened to have his nose broken by Kiba more than once and having learned now the teen would never dare doing it. That didn't mean the teen would get careless.

"I don't have any money, and you know that," Naruto said and turned back to the chessboard, Shino looking at him briefly. "Go ask someone else."

"But now I'm asking you, Naru-chan," Kiba said and slung an arm around the blonde.

"Don't call me that," Naruto growled out. "And get your arm off me."

"I call you whatever I want you little wimp, and don't tell me what to do."

"What's going on?"

The deep voice made them all look around. Naruto's eyes widened.

Endless light green eyes stared at them, surrounded by black. Red hair moved softly in the wind, and pale skin shone in the sunlight. They were all seated outside on their lunch-break, Naruto having brought a chessboard with him for entertainment. The blonde now though forgot the chessboard as he stared at the fucking hot teenager a few feet away from them.

"Gaara-sempai!" Kiba said and flung himself away from the blonde. "Nothing, nothing, just fooling around, right Naruto?"

The teen glanced at Kiba and said:

"Fooling around? Yeah right. Then I'll know the next time you come to demand money from me I can just ignore you."

Kiba's face went beat-red, looking ready to attack when Gaara suddenly said:

"Kiba, get lost."

The teen looked at the redhead with wide eyes before bolting back to the safety of his gang. Naruto looked after Kiba before turning to Gaara again.

"Thank you, Gaara-sempai," he said softly.

"Think nothing of it," Gaara said.

Sabaku Gaara was one year older, going in Neji's class if Naruto remembered correctly. The Sabaku family was one of the richest in the whole city, two of their three children attending this school. Gaara had an elder brother, Kankuro, who was doing his last year and his sister Temari had started at a university. Naruto felt very, very poor compared to them.

He was an orphan, having been shifted between families all his life. It was only now he had succeeded getting his own place and being on his own. He was used to it, and he wouldn't give it up.

"If he continues," Gaara said suddenly, "why don't you two pay me a visit?"

They both looked surprised. One of the richest guys in the school was prepared to defend two of the poorest? Naruto, unable to say anything, dumbly nodded and the older teen walked away.

The blonde teen felt his heart beat faster. The redhead… was too damn hot. Naruto had always known he preferred guys over girls but to fall this quickly for someone was unlike him.

A tug on his sleeve made him whip around and saw Shino quirk an eyebrow at him, pointing at the chessboard.

"Sorry!" Naruto said hurriedly and made his move.

-o-

"Troublesome…"

Naruto ignored Nara Shikamaru's comment behind him, because for the lazy genius Shikamaru everything was troublesome, and continued writing the test. Just because he was poor he was not going to fail school! He had plans for the future, plans to make himself independent of anyone. He would not let himself be dragged down. He chanced a glance over at Shino.

The teen was writing furiously on the paper, and Naruto smiled. Shino was smart, brilliant even, but it seemed only Naruto had succeeded making him want to study and get a good result.

The others were concentrating as well but Sakura and Ino seemed to compete who would finish first to impress on their Sasuke-kun. Said Sasuke-kun was desperately trying to ignore them both.

Naruto snickered quietly and returned to his test.

-o-

"Hello, Naruto-san, Shino-san."

The two looked up to see Hinata smile at them.

"Hello, Hinata-san," Naruto replied and the brunette raised a hand in greeting.

"Ano, how did it go for you on the test?"

Shino showed his paper. 89 percent out of 100 was rather good and Hinata clapped her hands.

"I always knew you could, Shino-san! Was it Naruto-san who made you study?"

Shino shrugged and blushed a bit. Naruto knew the brunette had a crush on the pale-eyed girl, he had seen the signs clear enough, but would not make her aware of it unless Shino wanted it.

"And you, Naruto-san?"

He couldn't help but grin as he held up his paper. Hinata gasped and said:

"You got full score!"

Sakura and Ino whipped their heads up as they heard it and turned to see who had gotten onto the first place alongside their Sasuke-kun!

They gaped as Naruto laughed sheepishly and heard him say:

"Well, I was chancing on one or two of the questions!"

"Naruto-san, this is wonderful!" Hinata said and looked at him. "Have you always been this good?"

"Always and always," Naruto said with a shrug. "I have to work a lot so sometimes I don't have time to study for the tests."

"I never asked where you worked," she said and tilted her head.

"On a restaurant," the teen said. "A waiter. The pay's good, and I have money now!"

The two girls got angry; how could the dead-last be so smart?

-o-

Naruto never complained why he had been born to his fate. He never complained his parents were dead, having died when the teen had been nothing but a few days old. He never said a word about the things he had to endure in his life, the hardships, not even his successes. He could feel happy once he was finished with studying and had a job. Only then he would be satisfied.

He wasn't jealous at the rich kids, not even over the middle-class ones. They were born with money. Well, if Naruto's mom and dad had survived Naruto would have been swimming in money as well. He had found out when he was thirteen his father had had a huge company that was still huge and famous. Only problem was Naruto had nothing to prove the current owner, his own uncle, that he was son to Namikaze Minato. And therefore, he felt it wasn't even worth trying.

Besides, he would never have met these people then. The good people by the way; he could care less about the bad ones. If he had been rich, would he have been friends with Shino? Would he have been going to this school, considering he was born in another town? Would he have met Gaara, the teen Naruto had completely fallen for?

He knew he would not have, and for a moment was happy he was a poor, frightened guy with no friends expect for Shino and hopelessly in love with one of the richest people in town.

-o-

Naruto came at lunch one day and Shino went to greet the blonde. Unknown to them, Gaara and Neji were watching the two. The two older teens had heard from Hinata the two had a hard time and, seeing nothing was wrong with them, wanted to help by keeping people like Kiba, Sakura and Ino off their backs. But now they could only stare.

Naruto was sprouting a black eye and a split lip. He was limping slightly and his smile was more of a grimace. Shino touched the damaged parts on Naruto's face and looked intently at him.

"Ran into some guys," Naruto said. "No big deal."

For the blonde teen though it was a big deal. It was not just some guys. It had been his old foster-father. One of them anyway, and it had to be the one who used to hit him. He had gotten away with a light beating and had seriously considered going to the police. After a while of thinking, Naruto had realized it would not lead anywhere and decided to leave it alone.

Shino wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Tell me."

The voice was raspy, quiet and it made Naruto's eyes widen comically. He stared at Shino and whispered:

"Holy shit, you spoke."

"Beside the point," Shino rasped. "Tell me, NOW. Else I go to Gaara-sempai."

Naruto saw speaking hurt Shino's throat pretty badly so he said:

"Alright, alright, I'll tell! Just lemme sit down for a moment, okay? And don't speak if it hurts!"

The two older teens watched Shino and Naruto sit down with worried gazes. Naruto appeared to be nervous.

"You know I'm orphan."

Shino nodded.

"I went around in different families before I came here," Naruto said carefully. The teen nodded again and the blonde bit his lip. He winced as the cut opened and held a hand against the mouth. He took a deep breath and continued, his voice slightly muffled, "Not exactly all of them were… nice. One of them drank a lot, hit his kids, his wife, me while I was there… I just didn't think I would meet the bastard ever again."

Shino stared.

"Police," he rasped out at last. "Have to go to police."

"No, it won't help," Naruto said and shook his head. "They won't be able to help me. The only thing I'll give is the man a big chance of finding me again. This way, I'll remain in the shadows."

Shino wanted to protest; the blonde could see that and therefore continued:

"Shino, I really appreciate that you're worried about me but… you can't help me on this one. I'm used to it; I've gotten a lot worse."

"Did anyone ever…?" Shino seemed reluctant to speak about what but Naruto knew. Rape. And the brunette was happy for the answer:

"No, they never dared. One tried, and I still believe he wears the scar after my vicious teeth."

He bared them briefly from behind his hand, making Shino shake his head hopelessly.

"Come on, let's go the nurse's office and get me patched up and then some lunch," Naruto said and rose up. "I'll buy you a soda for that throat of yours."

-o-

"You look beaten up."

Naruto looked up, startled, at Gaara. The younger teen got confused; it was after classes so why were the redhead still at school?

"Ehehe, I got a bit tossed around that's all," the blonde said and scratched his head. "By the way, why are you still here Gaara-sempai?"

"It's almost dark outside. I'll walk you home."

Naruto's heart stopped, the teen was sure of it. Then it began to hammer, quite furiously, making him feel nauseous. Sabaku Gaara wanted to walk him home? Uzumaki Naruto, the dead-last, the loner, the orphan? Had he ended up in a different reality?

"You sure? I can walk on my own…"

"I don't want to see more bruises on your face tomorrow," Gaara said. "I'll walk you home. Are you done?"

Naruto had been asked to stay behind to make up for the lost classes. Iruka-sensei was a kind person, so Naruto had agreed to stay. The teacher had to leave an hour ago due to a call from his wife, but the teen wanted his work done before he left. Luckily, he had just finished before Gaara came.

"Just about," Naruto said and gathered the books and papers. His leg was still hurting a bit, but his black eye and split lip was fine. As long as he didn't touch them.

The redhead shut off the lights before Naruto could and the blonde teen followed the slightly taller one as they left the building. The sun had sunk down, bathing the world in colours of orange and red. Naruto sighed; he did not have work this night due to his bruises and could relax from the job until they had faded. The boss on the restaurant he worked on was very nice, and had already decided when Naruto started that even if the blonde teen was gone a day or two, of course with a reason, he would still get paid for it.

"Do you need to stop anywhere?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, I've run out of food," Naruto said. "Haven't eaten anything today besides a sandwich at lunch so I'm pretty hungry."

Gaara looked at the blonde teen he had begun feeling very protective over all of a sudden. The teen was pretty skinny, his fingers thin and the legs looking a bit like sticks in the school uniform.

"Have you always looked this thin?"

"Dunno, can't remember. First time I looked at myself and remembered it I was twelve."

The redhead was so surprised every time he heard something about Naruto, either from the teen himself, Hinata or Shino on occasions. They came from different worlds. Gaara would never have to lift a finger if he did not want to while Naruto had to work himself to the ground to get by. The older teen felt strange… he felt it was unfair. Unfair for this beautiful, ambitious young man walking next to him. Naruto deserved to be able to relax and be like all of them; carefree, knowing their parents would help them. Naruto did not even have parents to lean onto. He was all alone.

"This is the store I usually go to. I know a guy who works here and I can get some things a bit cheaper because they know me."

Gaara followed as Naruto walked inside. He noticed the blonde teen was still limping slightly, but only if you looked closely.

The blonde teen didn't notice Gaara watching him; he only hitched his bag up on his shoulder more firmly, grabbing a basket before mentally starting to think what he needed. He always went for the cheapest, even when it did not taste as good as the more expensive ones. He had promised himself he would buy the better ones when he got a job and all. He would never buy the cheap stuff anymore.

Gaara's hand stopped him from reaching for the instant cup-ramen; a good choice when he had little time to actually cook. He looked up at the older teen oddly who only said:

"How many of those do you eat each week?"

"… Too many? It's not like I can help it; I have work in the evenings."

Gaara pulled him away and began to pick out on his own before putting it down in the basket Naruto was carrying. Naruto could not bring himself to even question although he was greatly confused. Fifteen minutes later Gaara was satisfied but Naruto was horrified.

"Um, Gaara-sempai?"

"Yes?" the redhead asked as he took the basket from the younger teen's hands.

"I won't be able to afford that…"

"Don't worry; I'll pay."

The blonde teen gaped as the redhead did just that, and it was only to the second call of his name that Naruto rushed up to help Gaara pack the things down into bags.

-o-

The redhead entered the apartment and looked around. The walls were white in the small hall and the only shoes that was there was Naruto's, as the teen had gone beforehand to the kitchen. Gaara took off his own shoes, not liking to watch his expensive standing right next to the younger one's worn and tattered sneakers. Unfair.

He moved into the kitchen with one bag in his hand; Naruto had insisted on taking the other two. The teen was currently putting it all away, still a bit amazed that Gaara had paid all this food for him. It would last for two weeks, at least! He was so happy that he did not even feel the pain in his leg anymore.

"Would you like some tea?" Naruto asked. "Or do you have to get home for dinner?"

"Can you cook?" Gaara asked even as he got his phone out. Naruto looked at the phone in slight envy; he had never owned one.

"Yeah," the teen said hesitantly and looked up from the phone.

"Why don't you show me?" Gaara asked even as he put the phone against his ear, already calling his father to say he wasn't coming for dinner.

-o-

This was simply too much! Naruto's heart was going to crash, sending him into a blissful death with Gaara sitting in the living room!

He shook his head to clear his mind and poured up coffee in two cups before taking them out to the living room. He had cooked sukiyaki and to his delight, Gaara had liked it very much. After that Naruto had gotten up some ice-cream he had been given, chocolate flavour with bits of dark chocolate in it and they had eaten a bit of it. And now it was time for coffee.

Naruto was surprised to see the time was already ten at night. It was dark outside, so how was Gaara supposed to go home? The blonde didn't even know where the older one lived!

He broke out from his thoughts as he gave the cup to Gaara before curling up in an armchair next to the couch in which the redhead was seated. The apartment was pretty cold but he was used to it. He still brought a blanket around his shoulders and yawned. It had been a long day for him and he wanted to go to sleep.

He never really noticed as Gaara stood up and began checking out his books. He put the half-empty cup of coffee down and curled up tighter. He was warm, his stomach was full and he felt safe with Gaara in his apartment.

When Gaara turned around, Naruto had fallen asleep. He chuckled lightly at the sight and put his cup down. He carefully lifted the younger teen up, disturbed how light the teen was. Gaara was not that strong, so he should have some problems carrying the teen. But he felt that Naruto was definitely too light for his age.

He went into the teen's bedroom and carefully put him down with the blanket still wrapped loosely around him. He tugged the covers up, set the alarm for the teen and left the room with a small smile.

-o-

Naruto woke up the next day to the alarm. He felt well-rested and blinked. Wait a minute; he was in his bedroom, dressed in the clothes he had changed into instead of wearing the school uniform at home. He had fallen asleep in the living room…

His cheeks heated up once he realized Gaara must have carried him. He set off the alarm and went into the living room. The cups of coffee were gone and Naruto continued into the kitchen. It was a note on his refrigerator. He went closer and read it.

Good morning I suppose,

Didn't want to wake you up; you looked exhausted.

There's breakfast for you in the refrigerator, don't be late for school and don't take any shortcuts. Also wait for me after your classes are done for today. I get out at four.

Gaara

The note warmed Naruto's heart.

-o-

Naruto was practically walking on clouds that day, and that seemed to piss some of his classmates off. Kiba the most, and then Sakura and Ino. The girls had been annoyed ever since they discovered Naruto was smarter than they thought and Kiba was angry because Naruto and Shino were protected by some of the older students.

"Oi Uzumaki, what the hell are you so happy about?" Kiba asked. Oh, it took so little to irritate the Inuzuka in normal cases but he was only smiling for heaven's sake!

"None of your business," Naruto answered and looked at him. "Something wrong with me being happy?"

"Considering you are a freaking orphan who gets beaten up because of the good-for-nothing he is, yeah," Kiba said as he smirked at the teen. "How can you even bother being happy since you're not gonna become anything?"

Naruto felt anger well up due to the other teen's comments, and that was unusual. He tried not to get angry over small things and most of the times succeeded. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself under control. He knew he could give Kiba a hell of a fight but did not want to get in trouble.

"Nothing to say, dead-last?" Kiba taunted. Sakura and Ino giggled. It was lunch and Naruto and Shino had seated themselves apparently a bit too close to the rich kids. Most of the others ignored the conversation.

Naruto closed his eyes and simply turned away.

"Oi, don't ignore me Uzumaki! You are nothing and I will make sure to it!"

Shino stood up and Kiba continued:

"And what about you, mute-bastard? Think you can do anything?"

"Shut up," Shino said, his voice loud and clear. He had gotten better to speak but had never spoken in front of the others before. All of the teens turned around to stare. Kiba's mouth fell open. The brunette continued, "All you can do is insulting someone lower than yourself. Doesn't that say that you're more pathetic than anyone else?"

Kiba was still gaping like a fish so Shino whirled around, grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him away. Shikamaru chuckled quietly and said aloud so the two teens walking away could hear:

"It was about damn time someone made the dog-boy look like an idiot."

The two turned around, shocked. Shikamaru waved his hand and got up.

"Troublesome," he yawned out. "You got anymore problems with dog-boy, make sure I know it. Or go to Neji and Gaara."

"You… you don't like Kiba?" Naruto asked.

"Does it sound like I do?"

-o-

Gaara came out fifteen minutes after Naruto had gotten out of classes and the redhead was pleased to see that the blonde was sitting on the stairs to the school. Naruto looked around and rose up as Gaara came out. The redhead simply took Naruto's hand and began walking towards he knew Naruto was living. The younger teen did not complain; instead he let himself be tugged along.

They came to Naruto's apartment and Gaara already seemed to be at home at the place. Naruto looked himself in the mirror and sighed as the black eye and split eye still was visible all too much. He was hoping it was soon disappearing so he could start working again. He liked working and not laze around.

"Don't take off your shoes," Gaara said.

"Why not?"

"Just come with me."

Gaara took him to a mall nearby. Naruto was very confused but did not complain; he liked the feeling of Gaara's hand intertwined with his own. Gaara did not seem to be embarrassed over what people would think of them.

An hour later they left to go home to Naruto, the blonde in awe. Gaara had bought him new shoes and a phone. A phone! Naruto had an own phone, and the guy he was in love with had bought it for him! He was dreaming, he had to be but he did not want the dream to stop anytime soon.

As they entered the apartment, Naruto turned to look at Gaara and said:

"Thank you, Gaara-sempai… you didn't really need to buy me this… it must have cost you a lot."

"Money is not an issue," Gaara said. "And you deserve it."

Naruto blushed heavily and Gaara smiled a bit at the look. He leaned forward and pressed his hand against Naruto's hot cheek. The blue eyes darted up to meet green ones. Gaara's smile widened before he pressed his lips against Naruto's.

-o-

Naruto was warm and comfortable, and the chest he was resting on felt very good. Gaara's hand idly stroke the blonde hair and Naruto snuggled closer. He was still in a bit of awe-feeling but was fairly certain it was not a dream.

Gaara tugged him up and pressed a kiss to his nose.

"Go to sleep," the redhead murmured. "We both have early classes."

Naruto nodded and dropped his head down on Gaara's shoulder.

-o-

Shino raised an eyebrow when Naruto and Gaara came to school at the same time, even came from the same way, and that both of them looked extremely pleased although a bit tired. He did not speak about his suspicions to Naruto though but turned to Gaara when Shikamaru was busy asking Naruto something.

"You better not hurt him," Shino said warningly.

Gaara smiled reassuringly to the brunette, an unusual sight and replied:

"I rather die than hurt him."

Shino nodded, pleased about it and the redhead said in a whisper:

"You should talk to Hinata, Shino-san. Who knows; she might be interested as well."

Shino blushed and quickly turned away. Gaara chuckled.

-o-

Naruto was eating lunch when he suddenly got a hard jab in his back. Shino was sick today so the blonde had been alone most of the day.

He whirled around only to see a smirking Kiba.

"You got no one to help you now," Kiba said with a laugh. "I'm gonna teach you dead-last what happens when you mess with me."

-o-

"Gaara-sempai! Neji-sempai!"

The two looked up at hearing Shikamaru's voice. The rest of the class looked on, curious. Seeing the lazy genius run was something not witnessed every day. The brunette was panting, holding onto the door post and got out:

"Kiba's gonna beat the crap outta Naruto. You gotta come."

Gaara's eyes widened.

-o-

Naruto wondered what to do as Kiba began to advance. He might have a chance if he does not hurt the other teen too much. He looked around a bit and swore when he did not see anyone he knew. They had probably eaten their lunch inside.

He dodged when Kiba aimed a punch at him and backed a few steps. He swung his leg up and it crashed right into Kiba's unprotected side. He swirled around and aimed the other leg to the same spot. Naruto then took a leap back, watching Kiba clutch his side with a wince.

"You brat!" the teen spat out and the fight was on.

-o-

Gaara and Neji ran out from the school doors and Gaara's heart skipped several beats when he saw Kiba and his lover fight. But his eyes widened even further when he realized something; Naruto was winning.

The skinny boy, the lonely orphan was actually beating the shit out of a teen larger than himself! Naruto delivered a swift kick to Kiba's stomach, making the teen go down on his knees in pain and then dug his elbow into the bigger teen's back. Kiba howled in pain and Naruto rose up. Kiba managed to get up and aimed a punch at Naruto's black eye. The blonde teen shifted his head, the fist going by him mere inches away. A quick fist came in contact with the underside of Kiba's jaw and then the blonde kicked him in the stomach again, making the bigger teen fall down to the grass, panting for breath.

It was clear who had won, and several students stared.

"That's what happens when you're too fucking arrogant," the blonde teen said as Kiba managed to look up. "Don't ever come close to me, you prick."

Naruto walked away. Kiba didn't follow.

The blonde teen smiled when he saw Gaara and Neji. He gently took Gaara's hand and said:

"I'm okay. Who told you?"

"Shikamaru," Neji answered instead of the redhead. "I don't think I have ever seen him run that fast."

"Or run at all," Gaara muttered. He gently rubbed Naruto's shoulder and continued, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"From my boss at the restaurant I'm working at," Naruto said with a grin. "I knew a bit before that and when he saw me train he told me he just had to help me. He was apparently a former champion in karate."

"You know karate?"

"Not the real way of course," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "My boss helped me figure out a style for myself. It was for my own protection of course." He tried to appear innocent.

Gaara chuckled at the obviously failed look from his blonde and looked at Kiba. The teen had yet to get up. He walked forward, leaving Naruto with Neji. He took a hold of Kiba's chin and wrenched his head up. Kiba looked fearfully at him and Gaara smiled a chilly smile.

"You ever go close to him, or try to get him out of school due to this fight, you'll find yourself at my mercy," Gaara said. "No one hurts what's mine."

Kiba could only nod. He was too afraid to talk. Gaara released him, rose up from his crouched position and walked back to the Hyuuga and Naruto.

-o-

A few days later

"Shino?"

Shino looked up at Naruto, uncertain of the tone the teen used. Naruto however smiled and said:

"You got it together with Hinata-san didn't you?"

The brunette blushed deeply and the other teen laughed.

"It's true, isn't it?" Naruto asked.

With great reluctance, Shino nodded. He looked up to see Naruto's reaction. Was he going to be looked upon like a fool?

All he got was a warm smile.

"That's good for you," Naruto said.

"Naruto!"

"Shino-san!"

They both looked up, surprised, as Hinata and Gaara looked at each other in surprise. Both had been walking towards their table, Hinata holding a bento and Gaara a small plastic bag. Naruto giggled. Shino snorted.

All in all, the future was looking bright.

End

Like it? Hope you did.

Until another time,

Ja,

Tiro