Of Cigarettes and Grape Vines
~chapter one~
Redheaded Cigarette
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
This fic is dedicated to the lovely Venovi-branches on Tumblr. Happy belated birthday.
The clock was ticking, exceptionally fast, on a race with his heart beats.
That was one minute ago, however; now his pulse crossed the finish line and was on a run for the Nile.
When was it going to reach 12, he wondered. The number seemed to run on miles every time the pointer closed on it.
Allowing himself a glance at the occupant of a desk at one corner, seemingly so far away from him, he sighed internally. Sasuke wasn't acknowledging his stare instead continued his hobby of window-gloating, which was just great for him.
Few days ago, he began suspecting Sasuke suspected him and Naruto, better than anyone else, knew his friend had eyes everywhere. Including one on Naruto's very back. Creepier than anything, he started receiving these odd looks from him and he knew, just knew, Sasuke was well aware of his most recent 'activity'.
But Sasuke is a sadistic bastard, so confronting him immediately was not on his list of priorities.
Every time Naruto thought about it, it seemed as if he was committing something so scandalous and disgraceful that the need to hide it from everyone became somehow necessary.
Every little look from his teachers manifested itself as a disapproving figure that floated at the corner of his mind, always crossed and grumpy.
All handshakes with his guy friends made him extremely nervous; and even patting on the shoulder freaked him out of his skin.
What scared him, however, was that he no longer did all these things. Pouncing out of the class, battling legions of bears and hippos to get the girls their snacks from the buffet, on his own tab no less, had been forgotten. And the questions it estimated, either from others or himself made the fact no easier for him, and that all his former activities became second best to nothing but a cigarette or two smoked in the school's shitty background with a person, another guy, a stranger, whom he knew next to nothing about.
Naruto, was to say the least, horrified.
It all started three weeks ago, and with all the disastrous consequences nobody but him seemed to sense, he did not want to stop; wished he'd regret, but didn't.
A really nice day, it was. Sunny, but breezy. A perfect day for sneaking out of history class. Naruto thought nothing could go wrong, because the whole world seemingly smiled at him and played it cool.
And since then, he wasn't fooled whenever it played cool. A really good day was so unreal to end on a good note.
As usual, Naruto skipped around, head darting on every direction until he found a spot where one of his school's massive walls provided a thin, translucent blanket of shade, covering the yellowing grass and junk left on this oft-abandoned area.
Watched; it was the first thing he sensed when thumbing his back against the cool wall and uttering a sigh of relief for arriving here without being caught.
Glancing down, he met with green eyes observing him uncertainly.
Naruto sneezed. The other person sneezed.
Naruto sniffed. The other person sniffed as well.
He stepped back, holding out his palms.
The other person, apparently another guy, was crouching down, his white shirt skewed and wrinkly, untucked and unbuttoned.
Naruto blinked. The other guy blinked too.
In an attempt to calm his thumbing heart, he took a deep breath and released it in huffs. After a long moment of silence, he gave the other guy a sideways glance.
"I'm afraid this is my personal spot."
The other guy looked around. "I don't see your name anywhere."
Naruto huffed, taking a pebble from ground and scribbling his name on the stony floor for the other to see.
"I thought someone who reads poetry would be more... mature."
"I don't read poetry!" he defended indignantly.
"I may have believed that if I hadn't seen you in the library."
Naruto was a little taken aback. "... You saw me at the library?"
Regarding him with a blank expression, the other retorted. "Just because none of your illiterate groupies know the way to the library everybody else doesn't."
"Hey! They're my friends."
"Do they know about this little interest of yours, then?"
At his confused stare, the guy finished with a torrid slap. "I figured so."
Naruto did not understand much at that moment; as every time he came up with a reply, the other guy would come up with another one, and that's how their very first verbal quarrel broke. What boggled him the most is that he liked it.
After he pulled out a cigarette, the other guy ridiculed him for smoking something as local and cheap as Seven Stars.
"Nana much?" the other guy uttered with a smirk, drawing a cigarette from the pack Naruto had offered him.
He was surprised, and a little embarrassed. Always hearing guys jeering about Shoujo, Naruto couldn't help but enjoy few names in the industry.
"Don't judge me man, I like it."
"I wasn't. I like it as well."
Naruto chuckled. "Did you guess I watch it because of my choice of cigarettes?"
The other guy shook his head. "Winter Sleep warbled out of your earphones. Smoking Seven Stars just confirmed it."
Rubbing his neck, Naruto smiled sheepishly and the other guy simply shrugged.
They talked, a lot; one line from him, one line from the other, and Naruto wanted to repeat that conversation over and over again. The two discussed movies they've watched, books they've read, lyrics and music of songs they've heard and even folklore; plus how much the educational system was full of bullshit.
The other guy had said: "Schools only exist to create of us, the raw minded, unquestionably obedient robots. They inflict out-dated information in your brain, only testing your memory, and not how you truly interpret this knowledge you're forced to assimilate. This is why when you finish school, and go out to the real world, you begin to think you're insane and an outright hinder on society; you seem to be the only one understanding how wrong everything is. Failing to comprehend anything, only because for eleven years, you've been living inside a spacious cell, fooled to believe you're actually free, while in fact, you're no more than a member of the heard, easy to sacrifice for what they call the Greater Good."
He was impressed, and admittedly caught off guard with how much the other guy could voice his feelings that Naruto himself wasn't eloquent enough to word.
And then they left, each their way with no goodbyes and no promise to meet again. And only when back in class did Naruto realize that he didn't even get to know the other guy's name.
Next day, with a childish, excited ting in his heart, Naruto got out before math teacher arrived in class and raced to the school's backgrounds, where much to his disappointment, no sign clued him to the other guy's presence.
By that time, Naruto had thought the other guy ended up finding him on a not-so-amusing level and decided that the 'basketball star and friend of all the ladies' wasn't worth his time. Or perhaps he's just late; Naruto waited, and the guy didn't show up.
He wasn't supposed to feel this dejected. This wasn't meant to be anything but a fluke; that once-in-a-life-time event that touches something so profound in you, beyond your reach, and just alters it in ways you can't comprehend; like how the leaves change in autumn. But those had a scientific reason behind them and Naruto was just trying to be poetic.
Maybe, just maybe, the other guy had a scientific reason not to be here.
He knew there was no promise, not even a word thrown his way. But alas, he concealed, like many other times, the hurt expression he was wearing and tied the mask back to his face. It was just another thing on the list to get over.
That, however, proved to be hard when the first thing he saw upon reentering the main hall was the smart-ass stranger conversing with two teachers, consequently handing one of them, rather discreetly, a small bag.
Naruto was intrigued, but decided that he didn't care anymore and that it was none of his business, battling the bottomless well of curiosity inside him out of rotten pride. But when the two teachers left the scene, and his barely hidden presence got noticed, their eyes met, and the other guy didn't have the courtesy to wave, nod, or even blink, but only to give his back and ascend the stairs, causing Naruto's heart to heave and falter despite how wrong it felt to feel this way.
Apparently, there was no scientific reason; he was just disliked.
Two days passed, and he ceased the habit of skipping classes, for he no longer felt any sort of gratification stemming from it. That however, didn't mean he and the other guy didn't cross paths frequently in the hallways or at the buffet. He, on his part, refrained from even acknowledging that delightful individual.
That, until the same individual approached him; in the most unorthodox way possible.
By the time it happened, he was washing his hands at the bathroom's sink, fully relishing in the sensation cool water brought on his skin. Finishing, Naruto dried his hands in the ever so efficient towel; his shirt.
And then glanced at the mirror.
He almost shrieked in terror, but held his breath upon taking notice of the familiar milky green eyes and the blank face watching him intensely.
Their gazes didn't just hold, they tangled, and Naruto's heart began warming up for the race.
"I've been searching for you." The other guy had said.
He turned around sharply, resting his hands on the sink's edge as to not give away for his crumbling legs. "Huh! Like you haven't seen me, hypocrite. I was right there!"
The guy's expression didn't change. "It wasn't a good time to talk."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What were you doing there anyway, with two teachers no less?"
The other's eyes surveyed the room before shaking his head, sensing another presence with them. "Let us go outside. The break's going to end soon."
Preparing to leave, Naruto had stopped him. "Wait-"
The guy sighed wearily, and only then Naruto had noticed how tired he looked, with black bags under his eyes and a sickly pale face.
"Hey… are you alright?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.
The answer came fast and definitive. "Let us just go outside."
Fearing the chance of being caught together trying to write off their existence from classes, the two separated and took different paths until eventually meeting in the junky background.
"Sooo…" Naruto started. When seeing the guy's haggard face, he asked again. "Really man, are you alright? I mean, you seem really sick. Do you need medicine—"
"What is it I'm seeing, the mother-hen side of you?"
"Bastard I'm just trying to help."
"It's just lack of sleep. Rest."
Sharing cigarettes, the two went back to their old way of conversing, two days hostility wholly forgotten. Naruto, little hesitant, had questioned him about the bag and the deal with teachers from the previous day, and was surprised, if not a little skeptical at the answer.
"Hashish."
It was unfiltered and said with total nonchalance.
"Eh." He could hear himself squeaking.
"Hash. Drugs. Medicine. Tobacco. Whatever you like to name it."
Naruto swallowed. "So… are you a part of an organization that sells kids and idiotic adults drugs and deals with hidden agendas seeking to take control over the country?"
"We also recruit idiots like you and brainwash them." The guy continued impassively.
"Well, fuck."
The two chuckled, pushing each other's shoulders lightly.
From what Naruto managed to conclude, the other guy's father is a tobacco merchant who dealt with men of stature and wealth. Aside from that, he also had his own brand of cigar and is a friendly trader of hash.
Naruto thought all this was immensely interesting.
The other guy's father, on the other hand, wasn't; according to the other guy's account of him.
But it wasn't like he was hanging out with Naruto instead of his son, which was good for him. Both of them, actually.
That break was good, Naruto still remembers. So good that he, sprawled on the cool sheets of his bed, questioned his sanity and choices.
What was he doing? Was he running away from a cruel, judgmental society? Was he trying to discover a reality which another person had oh so easily created for him? Was he trying to find something, or someone…?
Gaara…
Naruto entertained himself with saying the name repeatedly. Tasting it differently each time. It sounded so rich and velvety. And if he said redolent, he wouldn't be taken it too far.
He had said: "People are always around you, they just don't see you."
And by that noon, he started seeing; the guy's blood red hair and that mark on his forehead that hid a million thing. His electrifying eyes and long fingers. The way he held the cigarette and the way he put it off. How he would slightly part his lips, letting way to a long stream of smoke.
And how, whenever he appeared at sight, it caused a strange yet so familiar tightness in Naruto's chest. His stomach would churn and curl on itself, refusing to untie for the rest of the day.
He started noticing Gaara, and he did not know what to make of it or of all the emotions and sensations it brought.
He was afraid, because his gut instinct was telling him something was wrong. So goddamn wrong. This will not end well. Nothing ended well for him, and like Gaara had pointed out, he wasn't lucky either.
He didn't know about his redheaded friend, but Naruto was beyond the point of addiction. And yeah, he didn't do half-assed things.
From that point, the two of them became closer, meeting everyday at different hours and coming up with a number of reasons to explain their absence to teachers and classmates. It was in no way easy, but it was worth it, that much Naruto knew.
Cigarettes became less enjoyable when they're not smoked at the school's background; when they're not smoked with that person.
Classes, typically unbearable, is now torture sessions.
Sasuke's glares and questioning looks increased in frequency and more often than not Naruto found himself trying to avoid his friend at all costs. He was not ready for explaining; not ready to admit how much colorful life had become and how Sasuke had nothing to do with the spraying of colors.
Girls asked, and he told them the truth, forgoing to mention that he is meeting with another guy daily and adding a lot of things about family and family problems. Girls being, well, girls, they wanted to help.
Not being as dumb as everyone else thought he was; one thing Naruto was glad for.
He was much more than meets the eye, that's what his godfather had said. He also told him that having a little cunning side isn't a bad thing but indeed, an asset.
That didn't mean he liked lying, but through the years, it was a companion of sorts. White lies, they called them. White was deceiving and he didn't understand why people associated the color with purity and divine shit.
Though… he wondered how Gaara was handling the situation on his part. It seemed as if he was never really troubled about it. The two crossing paths on the hallways turned into a game; to see how much they can bump at each other or share glances without arising queries.
So far, it worked. Miraculously.
Now Naruto was tiptoeing on the white, ever so clean concrete of one of the school's many hallways; when he got outside, he ran as fast as he could to the place.
They just resorted to call it that. With all the poetry they read, they couldn't find a more elegant, fancy sounding name.
For now, the place was fine.
When he finally reached to it, he saw him, and he felt dizzy.
Gaara was sleeping soundly, or so it seemed to him, with legs slightly parted, one hand resting on his stomach while the other fell limply beside him on the grass.
He looked so peaceful and… safe.
Naruto, impulsively, wanted to reach with his hand, to touch those red locks and challenge the breeze that strayed in them like it does in a wheat field. He couldn't though, because the owner of those red locks opened his eyes and peered at him lazily behind half closed eyelids.
"Naruto," he greeted him.
"'Sup?" Naruto shuffled around until finding a spot where he wasn't uncomfortably close nor achingly far.
The redhead stared at him, scrutinizing. "What happened with you today?"
Naruto didn't know. Nothing really happened and he was feeling perfectly fine, aside from an agitating stomach, that is. "Nothing. I'm just sleepy and it's really hot today."
"It is." Gaara paused, his eyes narrowed. "Do you think that possibly, they could be releasing odorless gas in the air to make us feel disoriented and tired?"
He chuckled nervously. "I know I'm not releasing odorless gas."
Gaara grunted. "I noticed; it still has the same effect."
"Yeah, my fart has that kind of power. Like a secret weapon, y'know?"
The redhead snickered. "We can use it to take over the school."
"That won't have the same effect you're hoping for. Everyone here is well acquainted with it. I think they don't even smell it anymore."
"That sounds very bad."
Naruto laughed, feeling eerily content with talking about such matters. His heart might have as well transformed into a brick with how heavy it became along with a consistent sinking sensation when Gaara joined in the aftermath of his laughter.
He thinks Gaara could control the world with a laugh, not only the school.
If it isn't gas, it was probably the crease of Gaara's eyes and the sound of his chortling that made him feel this disoriented.
Perhaps days ago it was paranoia and fear of discrimination that took over and caused all this disease inside him, making him reluctant to continue doing whatever the hell you'd call this.
Now, however, he wanted to spend the summer with this person. He wanted to go camping with him and do karaoke and swim in a river and talk under the stars. He wanted to get out of the city and exhaust long days with him.
He wanted Gaara to fill his existence; even if it was for a short while.
"What are you planning for the summer?" Naruto asked him.
Gaara shrugged one shoulder. "My father had planned some kind of trip to the country side. Some place called Whirlpool."
He almost felt like fainting.
Thinking that his episodes with the redhead were coming to an end this summer, Naruto couldn't help but feel depressed, so he planned on asking Gaara to move in with him for the summer at their rustic house in Whirlpool. However, his plan set itself in motion without even his consent, and everything seemed perfect.
It all fit awesomely well together. He was going to spend the summer with his friend. No classes, no dress codes, no fear of being caught. A whole three months for themselves. It was beyond perfect.
But for some reason, his instincts were all over the place. For this time, though, he wanted to forget them. He wanted to just follow what was practically given to him on a silver platter.
"What are you going to do?" Gaara's voice woke him up from daydreaming about all the possibilities of a fun vacation with his new friend.
"Well, usually I spend it with my friends doing all sorts of activities. But this year Sakura is going to prepare for collage to be a cardiac surgeon and Sasuke's going to America."
"Sasuke Uchiha, America, how fitting."
Naruto chuckled. "Tell me about it. His brother and cousins are there, so he's going to spend the summer with them. He hasn't seen them for a while."
"I see. You hang out with many others, what about them?"
Naruto pouted, not really sure about the rest. Each was probably going to do their own thing and he wasn't that close to most of them.
"I really don't know. I mean they all want to prepare for next year. Lots of work. Butts all want to be something important."
"Do you want to be something important?"
He stopped to think of it. What did he really want? Studying doorstoppers wasn't his thing and info memorizing wasn't one of his good friends nor was commitment to something in particular. The wind simply carried him around and he liked it. He was likely to end up working at the orchard in Whirlpool and help make wine. Yeah, that was something he delighted in doing.
"I'm going to be a vintner, y'know, make wine." He told him in the most disinterested voice he could use. Gaara nodded, indicating that he's still listening. "I also want to buy a stable and teach children how to ride horses. I love nature and I can't see myself working in the city, or behind a desk. I'm more of a jungle man."
"That's ambitious, Mowgli."
"So yeah, no one important; I'll eventually find the right girl and marry her. Y'know, someone like me."
"And ride your horses into the sunset."
Naruto chuckled. "Yeah…"
That tightness in his chest returned and the 'right girl', faceless and featureless, shaped herself into a candle and melted down at the heat of a volcanic sunset.
Their little, personal break ended, and Naruto walked back to his classroom where not only did he sense trouble, but could smell it as well.
Everybody were seated and silent; their eyes piercing threw his body like the hot rays of this afternoon's sun as he stood by the door. His teacher, standing on the platform across from them, stared at him expectantly.
"Naruto," she nodded and he returned it with one of his own, nearly bowing.
"Miss Yuuhi."
"Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked kindly, as she always did, making him feel guilty for even thinking of lying to her. "Your bathroom breaks are starting to worry me; and the rest of your classmates as well."
Upon second inspecting, Naruto could tell none of them was actually worried. Curious, was more like it. He could almost see their tongues, moving in anticipation for a flick of gossip that will satiate a desire in them he never had and never understood.
"Actually, Miss Yuuhi…" he cleared his throat. "I just felt a little chocked up by the heat," He gestured to his neck for more emphasis. "The class is pretty hot today, so I thought it'd be alright if I skipped it and, you know, breathed some fresh air."
"I see; but this is the third time on a raw. You happen to not like my classes, Naruto?"
He felt that the question she implied under this was to know whether she was a good teacher or not. She was, but math wasn't. He hated math with a passion.
"Ahhh…"
Colors started to blur and he followed a very attractive orange spot that danced around the room with his eyes. More spots joined on the dancing floor and however much they bumped into each other, they seemed to regain their balance and continue dancing, either solo or with their partners.
They were so beautiful, adding weight to his heart and lungs, making it a little hard to breathe. Was he jealous because they could dance together, so freely and openly?
All he could think of at the moment is that he dearly wished to be that orange spot; surrounded by everyone, exchanging partners but always going back to its lonely position in the middle.
Voices; he detected them in the distance but couldn't recognize to whom they belonged. They were so many he wanted all of them to stop. He felt so weak to even tell them to.
The dots from before washed away; leaving behind them white, misshaped forms.
He tried to stay on his toes, but they couldn't bear his weight. His head bounded painfully and it seemed as if someone had shoved cotton in his ears.
Naruto was in a void. Complete nothingness.
He liked it. He enjoyed the sensation of being just a soul; no load of flesh, bones or muscle to carry around. Out of body experience, he preferred to call it. But this experience is mostly associated with orgasm.
Why was he thinking about that?
A disembodied penis floated so close to his weightless body and made him squirm uncomfortably. He didn't want it to touch him, so he rolled around, but his body wasn't responding.
There was no body to respond! It terrified him; he wanted his body back.
Suddenly there was a goat. It scurried in his way, its face menacing. He screamed, writhing violently to no avail.
The moment it reached him, he jolted up; a completely different place. He made an attempt to wiggle his toes, then his fingers, consequently infusing life to the rest of his limbs.
"You were out." Naruto darted his head around, only to find Sasuke leaning against a desk in what appeared to be the nursery. His friend took a bite from a very red, very delicious looking apple. "What were you doing out there, frying your brains under the sun? You already don't have much to account for."
Naruto, ignoring the subtle insult, blinked. "I… I blanked out…?"
Sasuke nodded. "Idiot." Taking another apple from the plate on the desk, Sasuke threw it towards him and he barely managed to catch it before smashing on his face. "I didn't know it was that important."
At Naruto's confused look, his friend reiterated. "Seeing that guy."
He was fast to retract. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Sasuke snickered. "Oh please. Our alley is small and we know each other. It seems he's doing something so good to you that when you enter class, you're all smiles and shining like a moon in summer."
Naruto didn't get it. Yes Gaara does make him happy in so many ways but how Sasuke said it implied much more than 'something so good' on an emotional level.
His friend probably noticed Naruto's puzzlement so he spoke again. "Let me rephrase, colloquially. Is he sucking your dick off?"
If it weren't for many years of expertise in assholes, Sasuke would now be mourning his fallen teeth.
Naruto had learned, much recently than he'd like to admit, not to end a verbal fight with a blood bath, nor to start one that more than likely will conclude with some serious injuries to both parties.
He learned, as well, not to let Sasuke tick him off by pushing his buttons. If someone knew the right ones to make him angry and mad, it was this guy. Infuriating as he might seem, the two had been through so much together.
What Sasuke had just said about knowing each other very well was right; also the exact same reason Naruto didn't immediately jump to punch the life out of his friend.
Sasuke knew fucking well that Naruto isn't skipping classes to have his dick sucked by a guy; he only said that to keep his image as the ultimate jerk that he actually is, only failing to conceal his curiosity.
Naruto knew, because their alley was not only small, but tiny; and thus barging into each other's shoulders was occasional.
"Asshole,"
"Dick face,"
"Shit licker,"
"Mother—"
"Uzumaki Naruto?" one of the nurses entered the room, cutting their quarrel short.
"Yes?"
"You're called to the principal's office."
Naruto gulped. That was some shit trouble he'd have to deal with.
Helping him up, Sasuke whispered slyly in his ear. "Good luck explaining your little crush to that man."
He glared. "What crush?!"
Before Sasuke could retort, the nurse interrupted them once again. "Gentlemen! Please, Uzumaki, the principle is waiting."
Naruto shook a fest at his friend's smirking face. "See you in hell, bastard."
Sasuke snorted. "I'm afraid you're going there with someone else."
He growled, hating the way Sasuke patted his eyelashes suggestively or the way his eyes glistened with mischief.
Fuck him.
Just outside the principal's office, Naruto stopped.
That familiar voice reached him before even noticing the red spot inside.
Gaara was explaining something to the principle, and then interrupted for a question that made it seem more or less like an interrogation was going within the room.
Interrupting the redhead was a bad move; Naruto remarked inwardly.
Checking around for any onlookers and finding none, he stepped closer to the slightly ajar door, making sure to stay out of sight in case the principle decided to take a rest from poring at the hapless redhead.
Eavesdropping isn't the worst thing he's done as of yet, right?
"… This is the second time you've asked, and I said no. We might have, coincidentally, chosen the same time to forgo classes; and I have spotted him on few occasions but did not approach him nor spend time with him."
"If, like you just claimed, spotted him, why didn't you report it to me, or perhaps another teacher?"
"I was not informed it's my duty to detect students' misbehaviors."
At this point, Naruto smiled. Gaara's tone has completely changed; he wasn't trying to maintain a friendly attitude anymore, and it showed at how strained the next question sounded.
"But we rely on you and the rest of your peers to correct the errors of one another's ways."
"I'm here to learn, not to mind the idiocy of teenagers."
"You are saying this as a teenager yourself."
"I'm afraid I was one of those unlucky kids who had to mature before their time. I'm certain a man with such expertise in teaching and dealing with adolescents would understand where I'm coming from."
The earlier smile dropped upon hearing this statement. He didn't have time to think of how much that sounded like him because their conversation was still ongoing; he wanted to hear a little bit more.
"Sabaku; students being at close proximity to each other allows us to reach easily to youths in this school."
"A spying program."
"Are you accusing us of such a thing, young man?"
"I haven't, but it might as well be true. Turning students against each other has always been a thing. What's a better way than to give some of them a false sense of superiority over others, while permitting the freedom to use it whenever their self-esteem endures a blow?"
"You are walking on a thin line, Sabaku."
Gaara stood up, apparently preparing to leave. "It seems I am. Now if you'll excu-"
The principle interrupted the redhead's departure, all the while staring at Naruto with his unsettling gaze. "Sit down, kid. It seems we have company. A little too late, don't you think, Uzumaki?"
Standing at the door, Naruto mustered enough politeness to smile and bow.
"Come join us. According to the many times you're absence from classes have been recorded, I'm rather surprised you cared enough to speak with me."
Naruto rolled his eyes internally, taking a seat on a plastic chair next to Gaara, facing the principle's desk; he rubbed his neck. "You'd have dragged me from my sideburns if I didn't come."
Sending a death glare his way, the white-haired man cleared his throat. "It's been reported you two have 'skipped' over your respective classes several times during the past three weeks. Is that true, Uzumaki?"
"If it's been reported, then why are you asking me?" He could have easily answered, but getting under that man's skin seemed to be rather fun after incidentally hearing the old fart's conversation with his friend.
The man sighed. "I need to hear your saying in this. Sabaku here says you two are not acquainted. Is that right?"
Naruto shrugged. "I did see him several times, you know, being in the same school and all; but no, we never skipped classes together. He's not even in my class."
The principle narrowed his eyes. "So you admit to your indiscretion?"
"Yes."
"We try hard to sympathize with students' issues; according to that, I have to ask why do you think forgoing hours of education is less important than fooling around in the school's grounds?"
Naruto gazed down at his lab, intertwining his fingers. He felt uneasy about it, but if there was an excuse, this will be the most prominent one. "It's just… my parent's divorce and all."
"I understand very well the ramifications of parents' separation; that, however, doesn't give your absent from classes a reason. Guarantying your commitment to this school and its rules is our first and utmost priority; your comfort, on the other hand, comes next."
"Okay."
"Do not okay me, Uzumaki. I have been in the business of teaching for nearly fifty years now and the likes of you has come and gone and can still tell stories about what I have done to students that slacked and thought they could slip away from punishment."
"But you just said you sympathize-"
"And I stand by my word."
"But Mr. Senju, as far as I know, this is a school, not a prison or a penitentiary."
"Are you trying to be smart with me, Mr. Uzumaki?"
"I'm merely pointing out that you can't expect to gain students' respect, trust and dedication if you don't show them some yourself. We are intelligent and more than capable of understanding your words. It's that we choose to convert them as most of us believe that your ways are oppressed and out-dated. I mean you just said teaching is a business."
"What are you implying, boy?"
"I'm implying that it's time for you to retire. Fifty years must've been such a pressure on your system."
The principle placed his large hands on the table and leaned across it; face inches away from his so much Naruto could smell the pleasant scent of mint candy.
Rather a surprise such a person had a nice breath.
"Listen here, Uzumaki. You may be the luckiest kid to ever enter this school and have some nerve to speak with me in such manner without being banned out, of not only this school, but every other institution that might have given two shits about your education.
"Duo to standing at a dire situation where the academic year is at its end and the final exams are approaching, I'll suggest we meet with your teachers so they can all agree to a punishment befitting of an egotistical, self-centered brat like yourself. That goes for you too, Sabaku."
Clearing his throat, the man concluded. "You are allowed to go now until I gather teachers at the end of this day. You will be called here and I expect the two of you to show proper respect."
While the two strode out of the office, Senju, rather dramatically threatened for the last time. "It's your last chance…"
"… At saving the world of scum-bags like me…" Naruto added, imitating mockingly the principal's voice before bursting out with laughter.
He could hear Gaara sniggering behind him.
Turning to his friend, Naruto grinned. "Gaara, let's be legends. This school will remember us for the end of time."
"What are you thinking of?" Gaara asked him.
Naruto summoned his most evil grin. "He said it; they can't do anything. We'll probably be forced to clean floors and some shit after school ends."
He struck a pose, arms in the air and cackled madly. Or what he thought to be mad cackling. "You'll see… we'll be the ones laughing at the end."
Finally outdoors, Naruto and Gaara walked to the small, empty stadium surrounding the exterior basketball court and chose to sit at the far end of it where shade covered the large stairs.
Students were still having their classes.
It was silent until Gaara spoke. "I watched your basketball game yesterday."
"You did?" he stopped himself before asking if Gaara thought he played good or not.
"Yes. You weren't that bad. Focused; lacking in the teamwork department."
Naruto huffed. "I don't lack teamwork."
"Yeah, that's why you lost."
It was a little like a stab. "We didn't lose because I 'lack teamwork'. We lost because the idiots I play with are well… idiots."
"The true idiot is one who perceives others as idiots."
He began sensing that heat rising within him. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Taking his eyes away from the court and looking at him, Gaara answered. "You're arrogant."
Naruto snorted. "No I'm not. I'm good at what I do, and so I expect others to be as well."
"What if they weren't?"
Naruto thought the answer for that one was obvious. "Then they shouldn't play basketball! I mean you either contribute something or hold back."
"So you, not passing the ball, counts as contributing?"
There was a voice in his head, pressing him to say something else in fear Gaara would think differently of him; but then he knew it won't be real. He'd be lying and Gaara wouldn't like that.
"At least I know what I was doing. This is my game; I'm competent enough to be called a team player."
Gaara stared forward. "Not enough to be made captain."
"pffft, like I want to be captain anyway."
"No, it's because you weren't asked to be team captain. You don't have team spirit."
Gaara was getting too close and it annoyed him, so he did like every other person does in such situations; point out the other person's flaws as if that would make his disappear. "Like you have team spirit."
"No, I don't. That's why I prefer to do things that don't require more than one individual."
He let out a frustrated growl. "What do you want from me then?!"
The redhead scowled at him. "I want you to stop thinking of how imperfect this world is; stop expecting from people to give their all the same way you do; just stop it. Stop loading everything on your shoulders as if you're responsible for other people's mistakes. You're not the messiah, you're Naruto. It's good to be Naruto."
He became highly aware of his damp eyes and tried to gaze up so no tears would fall.
His soul was reduced to a ricochet. It pounced off the walls inside him and now it tried to seep out of his eyes. Naruto just wanted to crawl into a corner and rock himself to sleep.
However, he inhaled sharply when something soft engulfed his hand. Glancing down, he saw Gaara's hand enveloping his. The redhead wasn't squeezing too tight nor did it seem forced. It was just wrapped warmly around his, concealing all the disharmonies and insecurities that plagued him.
For a moment, Naruto didn't want to let go, but like he did whenever it was uncomfortable, he joked.
"I didn't know you were the type to hold hands."
"I'm not."
Naruto sniggered. "So it's just for me?"
Gaara looked down, face sullen. "No… It's for me."
"Do you want a hug?" he asked without thinking and regretted it when his friend stared at him impassively as if he just suggested they strip out of their clothes and threaten everyone with water balloons.
When Gaara didn't answer, Naruto retracted. "I'm sorry I just thou-"
"I'm not certain."
"What?"
Gaara sighed. "I'm not certain if I want to be that close to you."
He chuckled. "Are you, or are you not aware that you're holding my hand?"
"It's different." Gaara said. "I can still walk away; if you held me, it'll be different because then it's more than mere consoling."
Naruto didn't understand. "Why are you putting such pressure on it? I mean you're not obligated to hug me or anything."
The redhead stared him in the eye, compelling Naruto to acknowledge the rapid beating of his heart. "I want to, but in the same time I don't. You make me uncertain about many things. I found myself reevaluating everything since the moment I talked to you and I came to the realization that you… you frighten me."
Naruto could almost hear the screeching of a record. "I frighten you?"
"I've never felt comfortable with physical contact. Holding your hand, however, it was an unconscious act. I wasn't aware of it until it happened." Gaara smiled faintly. "Holding your hand… it doesn't feel so bad."
He turned his palm upwards, reciprocating his friend's gesture and twining their fingers together in what seemed to be the gayest thing he'd ever done.
Holding Gaara's hand… it didn't feel so bad.
"Here it is." the short, chubby janitor handed them a paper with a list of what they were going to do as punishment. "I ain't going to supervise, so you better do all these things right."
Naruto grunted, but took the paper nonetheless. It promised a long day, but becoming a legend doesn't happen easily.
The janitor pointed at a corner full of cleaning supplies and equipment. "There's everything you two will need. When done, return it all to its place."
They nodded, watching the man turn his back and walk away after giving them one final glare. "I want to see my reflection on the floor."
Naruto leaned on Gaara's ear. "A sense of superiority, you said?"
His friend snorted. "Let's get this done with."
The paint buckets were waiting for them exactly where they left them. The two shuffled around until they gathered all empty buckets the janitor had given them and filled it with paint. Orange, pink, blue, yellow, green and yeah, red.
It was perfect.
Naruto grinned mischievously and Gaara returned it with one of his own evil smirks.
"Perhaps we should put some music?" he suggested.
The redhead nodded.
"Let the show begin."
Naruto sighed contently. "It's like we're inside a bubblegum. A very chewed bubblegum."
Gaara peered at their work, scrutinizing. "Maybe we added too much pink."
"Are you kidding? Pink is awesome!"
His friend hummed. "Now to our masterpiece,"
"Senju's going to have a rough day tomorrow~." Naruto sang out.
Taking the few buckets left, the two made a bee line to the principal's office. Suspiciously enough, the door was left open, so the two took cautious before entering.
There was no one to be seen.
"This's odd…"
"It's not like him to leave the office unlocked."
Glancing at Gaara for reassurance, Naruto walked deeper inside the mystery of all mysteries that is Senju's office.
"I hope he think it's blood." Gaara whispered behind him.
"His wife's blood."
"He's not married."
"Pffft, figures."
Bumping their paint rollers together, the two dipped them in the only color left.
"We need to make it look as if someone was killed here." Gaara said.
"How? Have you killed anyone before?" he wondered.
"I contemplated killing my father several times. Not in such a messy way, though."
"How then?"
Gaara picked under his nails disinterestedly. "Poison; fast and efficient."
"You're evil."
"Who isn't?"
Naruto shifted his weight to his other leg. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this. I mean it's one thing to vandalize an entire school and thoroughly different thing to mess with a Senju."
"It's too late to have second thoughts, Naruto; we're already in too deep."
He grouched. "We're so going to be expelled."
"We finished our exams. The school had ended. They can't expel us." Gaara said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The worst they can do is degrade our marks enough to fail this year."
Naruto gasped. "You mean make us repeat the last year of high school?!"
Gaara shrugged. "Maybe. But they would want to get rid of us, so I believe there's a chance we might pass this unharmed."
"What if they sentenced us to prison?"
The redhead gave him the same impassive look he did the other day. It was absolutely shaming.
Naruto suddenly remembered. "Hey, next week's our anniversary. Y'know, for the first day we started hanging out together."
"What a joy." Gaara deadpanned.
He chuckled. "Hey Gaara… I'm looking forward to our next anniversary."
The redhead snorted. "If I haven't succeeded in brainwashing you by then."
"I think your job is already done."
Gaara displayed an expression Naruto had never seen before; his eyes at first seemed clouded, but then his face mellowed and he smiled crookedly. Naruto sensed something thin, like a thread, drift between them. He wanted to get hold of it and pull the redhead closer.
He couldn't though, because a roaring echo that shook the room sounded from outside.
"BASTARDS~~!"
"At least food in prison is free, and we'd wear these awesome orange suits!"
"Your optimism disturbs me."
To clarify some things, I used names like Nana, the anime and the manga; also the song Winter Sleep by Olivia Lufkin is sang in the anime (the series is really beautiful with astounding music; you should check it).
Seven Stars, like you might have noticed, is a cigarettes' brand smoked by the protagonist in said manga.
This is just the prologue, but I hopefully succeeded in making it stand as a one-shot.
Just a warning: I'm not going to take this fic seriously, so you shouldn't as well. If you're expecting something epic, than I suggest you look for another story to read. Conflicts will be present but they will be solved promptly and easily. I just want to keep things light-hearted and silly. So yeah.
I hope you enjoyed ^^
A note: if anyone interested in beta-reading this very chapter or next ones, please drop me a PM.