Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ From Here to Eternity ❯ Dream Part Two: Memory ( Chapter 13 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Kat: Okay. This chapter's also really short, so it's more of a part two to my last update. Man… we had thunderstorms all day today. We NEVER have thunderstorms. O_O
Naruto: -shudders-
Kat: It was pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself!
Naruto: It kicked as, but it was LOUD.
Kat: All right, please review, fans and friends!!
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Naruto Uzumaki had always considered himself a formidable opponent when it came to anything physical. He could punch, kick, and hit like the best of them. But when Naruto sat down with Gaara to play video games, it was like he was a different person.
Gaara, on the other hand, couldn't win a fight if his life depended on it. He despised physical activity almost as much as one would expect the worlds' fattest human to despise physical activity. But when Gaara played video games, he was king.
“NOOO! NOT AGAIN!!” Naruto bellowed, as the TV screen flashed red again.
`Player One wins.'
“Goddammit, Gaara,” the blond hissed, rubbing his eyes. “How the hell'd you get so good at video games?!”
Gaara just grinned sadistically, and started a new game.
Naruto hadn't won a single game in six years. He had never played video games with anyone else, really. Naruto remembered the first time he had played a video game with Gaara. How long ago had it been…? He shook his head, as he remembered the first time he met Gaara. They didn't play video games that day. They didn't start playing video games for another week. But still, the irrepressible memory drifted into his head.
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It was a bright summer day in Konohaton. Naruto Uzumaki was fresh from the dentist, shockingly cavity free. Iruka had been beyond impressed.
They were living in a house back then. It was a small house, with only two bedrooms, but to Naruto, it was home, and he loved it for all that it was.
As they were driving home from the dentist, something caught the small blond boy's eye. There was someone his age in the sandbox at the park. Someone he didn't recognize. Someone who wasn't in his old class, so who must be new. This prospect excited the eight-year-old. Maybe he could make a new friend!
Naruto didn't have many friends.
“Iruka, who's that?” he asked, pointing out the window.
Iruka followed Naruto's finger.
“I don't know,” he said.
“Can we stop, Iruka? Can we? I wanna play!” Naruto said, bouncing up and down in his seat.
“All right, all right,” Iruka said. “You can play for one hour. We need to go home and start dinner.” Iruka pulled the car around into the park parking lot, and pulled the keys out of the ignition. “I'll be right here if you need me,” Iruka said, pulling out his book. Naruto nodded, pushed open the car door, and hopped to the ground.
He walked over to the other boy slowly, analyzing him. He had dark red hair, and he had circles under his eyes, like Iruka got when Naruto wasn't sleepy until the sun was coming up. He was really pale, and he was holding a teddy bear. Naruto cleared his throat. The other boy looked up sharply, and sent a lilting look over to Naruto.
“Hi,” Naruto said, waving. “I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Who're you? Never saw you before. Are you new here? What's your bear's name? He's cool.”
The boy studied Naruto for a moment.
“I'm Gaara,” he said slowly. “Gaara Kaze. This is Yoshiko. We just moved here.”
“Oh,” Naruto said. Then he sat down in the sandbox, next to the other boy. “Will you be my friend?”
This seemed to surprise Gaara. His eyes went wide for a moment.
“Y…Yes!”
“Can I play in the sand with you?”
“Sure!”
Naruto dug in the sand for a moment, until he reached the bottom layer, where the wetter sand was. It always stuck better. He pulled out a few handfuls, and then began constructing his fortress. Gaara came down off of the wooden railing around the box.
“What are you making?” he asked.
“I'm making my castle!” Naruto exclaimed, molding the side of his palace so that it would stand.
“Oh. Can I help?”
“Uh huh!”
Gaara set Yoshiko down on the grass just outside the sandbox, then set to work with Naruto.
After a half-hour, their citadel was almost completed. Naruto nodded, his eyes scanning for any room for improvement.
Suddenly, a voice behind him almost sent him toppling headfirst into the construction.
“BOO!” the voice cried. Naruto jumped, and whipped around.
“Stupid Sasuke!” he cried, stamping his foot. “Why'd ya do that?”
“'Cuz I felt like it,” Sasuke Uchiha declared, his arms crossed, and an impudent smirk playing over his lips.
“Sasuke,” another voice called. “Come on, let's go.” It was Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. Itachi was a tall ten-year-old. Everyone liked him. Everyone, that is, except Naruto. Naruto wondered sometimes if Sasuke liked Itachi either. But Naruto thought Sasuke was stupid, so it really didn't matter.
“Who's that?” Sasuke asked, pointing at Gaara.
“That's Gaara,” Naruto snapped, crossing his arms so he would look cooler than Sasuke. “He's MY friend, NOT YOURS.”
Sasuke raised his eyebrows.
“I just wanted to know who he was. Jeez,” Sasuke said, shrugging. Then he turned, and walked over to Itachi. Then they left the park, probably headed for home.
Naruto spat on the ground where Stupid Sasuke had been standing, then sat back down in the sand box.
Yes, he and Uchiha had been doing their little dance since the time of kindergarten. For some reason, just Sasuke's PRESENCE irritated him to no end.
Naruto never really bothered to wonder why Sasuke bugged him so much. It really didn't matter to the eight-year-old.
“Who was that?” Gaara asked softly, looking at Naruto.
“Sasuke Uchiha. He's stupid,” Naruto added, after a pause.
“Oh.”
They continued to build the castle, which Gaara dubbed Yoshiko's Castle. Naruto thought the name fit, and Gaara perched Yoshiko up on top of the sand.
At that moment, Naruto noticed something.
“Gaara,” he asked. “What's that?”
“What's what?” Gaara said, blinking.
“On your arm.” The blond reached over, and lifted up the sleeve of Gaara's tee shirt. There was a deep purple splotch across his upper arm.
Gaara winced, and flinched out of Naruto's touch.
“I-it's just a bruise,” he said, cupping a hand over his arm.
“Oh. Does it hurt?”
“A little,” Gaara said, shrugging.
“Oh. I've got a bruise on my knee,” Naruto said, standing, and rolling up his pant leg, revealing his battle scars. “I fell off my bike on Saturday.”
“Ouch,” Gaara said, making a face. “My daddy did this.”
Naruto fixed his pants, and sat down. “Why'd he do that?”
“'Cuz I was being bad,” Gaara said sorrowfully, blushing.
Naruto didn't say anything. He just stared at the castle. A gentle breeze was beginning to pick up, filling the August air with the scent of the upcoming autumn.
“What grade are you gonna be in?” Naruto asked.
“First grade,” Gaara said.
“Me too!” Naruto cried, clapping his hands together. “Maybe we'll be in the same class!”
“That would be awesome!” Gaara said, laughing.
“Naruto!” Iruka called from the car. “Time to go!”
“Okay!” Naruto called back, standing. “I gotta go,” he said, looking down at Gaara. “Do you have to go, too? Maybe Iruka could give you a ride. I bet your mom would like that.”
“I don't have a mom,” Gaara informed him, crossing his arms.
“Oh.” Naruto didn't say anything for a moment. Then, “I don't have a mom either.”
Gaara looked at him for a few seconds.
“I only live about a block from here. I can walk home. Thanks, anyway.” The redhead went back to staring at the sand. It was getting cold, but Naruto shrugged, and started back to the car.
“I think we're going to be real good friends, Naruto Uzumaki,” Gaara said softly, so softly that he was sure that only he could hear it. But Naruto had heard it, and it kept him smiling all the way back to the car.
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That bruise.
Naruto leaned back against the couch as Gaara destroyed his battle cruiser again.
He had completely forgotten about the bruise. There had been other bruises on Gaara many times after that, but whenever Naruto asked about them, he was brushed off angrily. So eventually, Naruto stopped asking about them. Asking only made Gaara mad. And Naruto didn't like it when Gaara was mad.
There was no make up covering his face, and there was a bruise visible over Gaara's eye. But it was old. It was a dark smudge over the pale white and sea foam green.
Naruto didn't ask about the bruise. He almost did, but he resisted it. Naruto hated it when Gaara was mad.
The blonde didn't want to risk losing the one friendship he had.
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“Naruto?” Gaara said, poking the spaced out teen in the arm. “Naruto? …NARUTO!”
“Wha…?”
“God, Naruto, did you sleep at all last night?” Gaara asked.
“Huh?” Naruto looked blearily at the shorter teen. “What?”
Gaara shook his head.
“Never mind,” he said. “Best eight out of fifteen?”
“Hell yes!”
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Kat: Okay. I decided to make kind of a part two to `Dream'. This chapter hardly counts as a real `chapter'. Whatever. Okay! Plot development WILL take place in the next chapter, I promise. Please review!
By the way, to Junsui: NOOOOOO!!! NO NO NO!!! Yashamaru is going to be GOOD in this fic!! See, the way I see it, if Yashamaru wasn't nuts (and Itachi, for that matter), then he would've been NICE! X.X
Now. PLEASE REVIEW!! -big cheesy grin-