Chapter Text
It was another Tuesday morning. As Naruto walked towards the bus stop, he yawned. He hated morning classes.
Maybe he wouldn’t hate them so much if he didn’t stay up until the middle of the night playing Lethal Company with Sasuke, but still. The worst part was that Sasuke seemed to handle four hours of sleep just fine: no dark circles, no nodding off during lunch. So unfair.
The bus stop was always crowded during that time, full of students waiting to go to Konoha University. Naruto walked past most of them, stopping close to the bus stop sign. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his token.. Even though bus cards were available, Naruto still preferred to buy the tokens. They were cheaper as he could easily buy them from his classmates. Allegedly .
He also thought the tokens looked nicer: round and green, with a small leaf. Naruto rolled it between his fingers, enjoying how the cheap material felt against his skin.
Naruto should have shoved it back into his pocket, though. It was his last token; he’d planned to buy more from Kiba once he got to campus.
A car honked.
Too late.
While someone at the bus stop laughed and waved at the car, Naruto jumped. It was enough to throw his concentration off, and soon his last token fell directly into a water drain.
Fuck .
“Asshole,” Naruto mumbled. “Crap, it was my last token…”
Naruto knelt, checking if there was a way to fish the token back out. He looked inside the drain, but the token was long gone. Fuck.
He looked around, panicked. Maybe there was somebody he knew, even if they weren’t close, who could lend him a token. Naruto would pay them back later.
Soon, the bus he was waiting for arrived. Naruto felt his heart thundering in his ears. What should he do?
He would ask a stranger. Anyone . But every time he tried to get someone’s attention, the person would just side-eye him and enter the bus, probably thinking he was trying to cut the line.
As the queue reduced, Naruto felt his panic increase.
Maybe if he went on foot, he would arrive in time for the last two class periods—
“I can pay your fare.”
Naruto turned, looking at the voice’s owners. It was a guy. Flashy red hair, dark clothes, no eyebrows, and an ungodly amount of eyeliner. Naruto blushed.
“Thank you so much !”
The stranger nodded. As they climbed into the bus, he took a card from his pocket and paid for their fare.
By Naruto’s fault, they were the last ones to enter the bus; it was already packed, with no place to sit. The stranger walked in front of him and stayed close to the exit.
Naruto followed. He stopped beside the guy, who sent him a look.
“Thanks a lot, man. Truly. I should have bought new ones last week…”
The stranger nodded. Again. Not very talkative, huh.
“So… Do you study at Konoha University too?”
The guy eyed him again.
“... Yes.”
“That's so cool! So we go to the same college, huh? How come I haven't seen you before?”
“I’m an exchange student.”
“Oh! Makes sense. Where are you from?”
“Suna.”
“I heard the sky is pretty there.”
“It is.”
Silence.
“My name is Naruto, by the way.”
“Gaara.”
Well. At least he answered everything. Better than the first time he talked to Sasuke.
They rode the bus in silence. As they got closer to the college’s stop, the students began to get up, forming another line to get off the bus.
“Gaara, look, you saved my life. Not literally. But I’m still grateful. How can I repay you?”
Gaara glanced at his face one last time before stepping off the bus.
“You can leave me alone,” he said simply.
Ouch .
And with that, Gaara vanished.
***
No matter what his friends had to say about his interaction with Gaara, Naruto wasn’t being weird.
They took the bus together only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Every time, he would say good morning to Gaara, to which he answered. Once, he was even the first one to say it to Naruto. He never asked anything back, of course, but Naruto didn’t like to feel in debt to people. So, he had a plan to pay Gaara back with something he’d truly like.
He decided food was a safe choice as a thank you . Everyone liked food, right?
Choosing the right food was the tricky part. Allergies and all. Naruto, after spending fifteen minutes walking around the 7-Eleven close to his apartment, chose a pudding.
His reasoning?
- Everyone liked sweets;
- It’s yellow, just like the desert. Gaara seemed fond of his home, even if he didn’t show it on his face.. He might enjoy yellow things, then. Or brown. The pudding had both! Perfect.
And… that was about it. It was the best thing he could do with the amount of information he had.
That morning, after they exchanged their usual good mornings, Naruto stuck close to Gaara. Not too close, though. He planned to give the gift during the bus ride.
Naruto grabbed the plastic bag harder. Wow, did he feel nervous. He rubbed his clammy hand on his pants, trying to clean the sweat off.
It was just a thank-you gift. Why was he so anxious again?
As the bus stopped, Naruto entered it with a twist in his stomach. He observed Gaara paying his own fare and walking to an unoccupied seat by the window. That day, they were one of the first passengers to arrive. Finally, they would be able to sit during the 20-minute commute.
Naruto slid into the seat next to Gaara, ignoring the slight flinch from the other guy.
“Hi again,” he tried.
Gaara side-eyed him. He hugged his backpack closer, like it might shield him from Naruto.
“Hi.”
“It’s good to sit down, right? Man, my back always hurts when we spend the whole 20 minutes standing still… I think the worst part is how boring it is.”
Gaara turned his body in his direction, still careful not to touch Naruto.
“I like it. I listen to music.”
“Oh! We can listen together someday, then. I have earbuds, they sound amazing—”
Maybe Naruto was pushing too hard, but either way, his words died on his tongue. Gaara brushed his hair out of his eyes, actually paying attention to Naruto’s ramble, and that’s when he noticed he had a tattoo on the side of his forehead.
Oh.
The red ink formed the word love in kanji. It looked… nice. Yeah. Only nice.
“Cool tattoo,” he blurted.
Gaara tensed. By the look he shot him, if he actually had eyebrows, he would be arching one of them.
Seriously. Why couldn't Naruto just keep quiet?!
“It’s a scar,” he said. “You also don’t have to lie.”
Ouch. It seems it was a sensible topic.
“I’m not,” he reassured. “It looks so badass. Wish I could pull it off like you.”
Gaara looked away. Naruto noticed his neck was redder than normal.
“ Anyway ,” he said, trying to save some face. “I have a gift for you.”
Gaara glances at him again.
“A gift? Why?”
“A thank you gift. For the token.”
“I think I already told you how you can repay me.”
Naruto scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous. Here.”
Naruto handed him the bag. Gaara eyed it warily, but sighed (with discretion) in the end. He took it off Naruto’s hands.
Gaara peered inside. He maintained his expressionless face.
“Thank you,” he said politely.
Crap.
“You didn’t like it,” Naruto answered. “I thought you liked yellow. Desert and all.”
Gaara stared at him like he had grown a second head. Naruto was used to receiving this kind of look.
“I… like yellow.” It sounded more like a question. “I just don’t like sweets. My sister does, though. I’ll give it to her.”
“Aw, how come you don’t like sweets?”
He shrugged. So, food was not a good option. Time for a change of topic, as they were close to their campus.
“So… you have a sister?”
He nodded, “I also have a brother.”
“Aw, I don’t have any siblings,” he pouted. “Must be nice. I wish I had at least one.”
“It’s okay,” Gaara says.
“You must be the youngest, right?”
Gaara looked surprised.
“How did you know?”
Naruto grinned, “I’m just that good.”
Naruto just thought he had some kind of baby face . Good guess.
He feels his pocket buzz. It’s a message from Sasuke.
from: idiot
come to the coffeeshop asap
there’s a girl who wont leave me alone and i need you to do something before i strangle her
from: Naruto
dont be a dick
omw
He chuckled. Sasuke was so dramatic.
from: idiot
if i’m a dick then you’re a cunt
quit flirting with your goth redhead and come
That was enough to make him blush. He locked his cellphone, feeling Gaara’s glare on himself. Naruto gave him a wry smile. He just hoped Gaara hadn’t been able to read Sasuke’s words. But if he was, he didn’t show it.
As the bus stopped, Naruto was one of the first to stand up.
“I really have to go. See you on Thursday, Gaara!”
He didn’t wait for an answer as he jumped off.
***
On Thursday, Naruto bought him a rose.
It was not weird, despite whatever Sakura had to say. Gaara was not some random unknown guy; they were getting to know each other pretty well. Gaara even talked about his family.
A rose could be a good thank-you gift. It was a flower . People liked flowers; also, roses and love were linked, and even though Gaara seemed to regret his scar or something like that, it must have had a meaning to him.
This time, he approached Gaara before they entered the bus. He hid the rose behind his back.
“Morning!”
Gaara nodded, “Good morning.”
“I have another gift for you!”
Gaara frowned.
“You didn’t have to. My sister liked the pudding. She asked me to say ‘thank you’ on her behalf.”
For some reason, the thought of Gaara’s siblings knowing who he was made him blush.
“But it had to be something you liked, “ Naruto answered. “But I think I got it right today!”
Gaara sucked the inside of his cheek, staring at Naruto in a way he couldn’t quite comprehend.
Naruto offered the red rose in his direction. He heard some girls close to them chuckle and whisper about it, and while he wanted to turn to them and shush them because it was not like that , he was too focused on Gaara’s reaction to do anything else.
This time, he actually looked flustered, lips slightly parted and eyes wide.
“Is it… your gift?” he asked tentatively, before reaching for the flower.
“Of course! Everybody likes roses, right?”
The way Gaara’s lips thinned told him otherwise.
“Thank you,” he said as politely as on Tuesday, when he received the pudding.
“Don’t you like flowers?” Naruto asked. How could he pick the wrong thing a second time?
Gaara blinked.
“I do, but I prefer cacti.”
… Cacti . Of course.
The bus pulled.
“Ah. I should have thought about that.”
“Thank you. It is… nice, anyway.”
Naruto flushed. Not really knowing how to react, he walked towards the queue. As the bus filled up with college students, Naruto slipped through them. That day, Gaara and he were far apart. But, with the corner of his eye, he could see Gaara looking out of the window, his red headphones contrasting with his white button-up shirt and the chains tangled in his jeans. He was steadying himself with only one hand, as the other carefully carried the rose, protecting it from the other passengers.
Naruto blushed harder. That day, he didn’t even wave Gaara goodbye. He ran from the bus.
He was never giving anyone a rose ever again.
***
Naruto kicked a pebble. Gaara was late that day.
His stomach twisted. The bus was going to arrive in two minutes. Was he okay? Maybe he caught the flu or something.
He just hoped he didn’t need anything. Naruto got sick a few times, and if it wasn’t for Sakura showing up, Naruto didn’t know what he would’ve done. And Gaara must live closer to his siblings, so if anything happened—
And here his mind went again, thinking about weird shit. Naruto shoved his thoughts away, focusing on his classes for the day.
As the bus approached, though, Naruto saw a familiar flashy redhead walking towards the bus stop. Gaara .
Even as the bus waited at the stop, ready to go off at any time, he didn’t seem in a hurry. Naruto watched as the other passengers formed a queue, his chest tightening with mild panic.
When the last students were entering the bus, Gaara stopped next to Naruto.
“Good morning,” he said.
“You scared me today, man, I thought you weren’t coming!”
Gaara wrinkled his nose, “... And why exactly is it scary?”
Naruto flushed.
“Are you okay, then?” He tried to dissuade.
“Yes. I was just helping my neighbor carry some groceries.”
Naruto imagined Gaara, with his scar, eyeliner, and combat boots, helping an elderly lady carry her groceries. He chuckled. He had an impression that his mother would like this new friend of his.
Despite wanting to, Naruto suppressed the cute that was on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he climbed into the bus.
“I brought my earbuds. The wireless ones. So we can listen to music, just like we talked about the other day.”
Gaara frowned, stopping close to Naruto.
“I’m sure I didn’t say anything.”
Naruto rolled his eyes. “Don’t be grumpy. Here, take this.”
Naruto opened the earbuds’ white case.
Gaara rolled his eyes, but accepted it anyway. He paired it with his cellphone. Soon, Naruto’s right ear was filled with a melancholic tune, the girl’s voice so low he could barely make out the lyrics. It reminded him of Sasuke’s playlists; they actually had some things in common. Maybe the two of them would get along pretty well.
“What’s the name of this band?” Naruto asked.
“ My Bloody Valentine .”
“Huh, I like it.”
Gaara glanced at him, but didn’t say anything. The music Gaara listened to was calmer than he thought. Almost no screaming and all. Sometimes it sounded like 90s grunge rock, others, it sounded synth and dreamy. Most of them were melancholic, but they were also soothing.
As they were both connected by Naruto’s earbuds, when the bus stopped, they both got off together.
Naruto thought of it as a major win.
Gaara handed the earbud back.
“I’ll see you around,” he said, already turning.
“Hey, wait!” Naruto grabbed him by the wrist. Even though he was not directly touching his skin, he felt Gaara tense. “Shit. Sorry.”
Naruto let go of him. Gaara turned again, face redder than usual. Naruto tilted his head. If he blushed hard enough, would it match his hair?
His heart missed a beat for some reason.
Naruto kicked himself. Gaara probably would murder him if he found out Naruto intended to get a reaction out of him.
“Do you have anywhere to go right now?” Naruto asked.
“... No.”
“Do you want to get coffee? With me?”
Another one of his looks that translated into arching brows.
“I mean! I still have to repay the token.”
“You brought me pudding. And a rose. The token is not that valuable, so there’s no need.”
Naruto scoffed, “And now I’ll pay for your coffee. So we’re super even, since you didn’t exactly love the other stuff.”
Gaara glanced at him. He looked around, as if he were searching for something. Whatever it was, he might have found it, as he just nodded and answered:
“... Sure.”
Naruto gave him his widest smile, “I’ll leave you alone after that.”
Gaara simply looked at him. Not tired or anything, just entertained. They both knew it was a lie.
The coffee shop was almost in front of the bus stop. It was clearly a strategic place: which college student wouldn’t be tempted to buy some coffee and snacks the second they arrived at the campus? Needless to say, it was popular.
As they entered, the coffee smell grew stronger. Naruto smiled, walking to the counter. Gaara ordered a simple black coffee with no sugar. Naruto decided to go for a hot chocolate.
He should be happy. It was the first time he was gifting Gaara something that didn’t make him press his lips into a thin line. But, turns out it wasn’t enough for Naruto anymore. He wanted a real smile (he thinks he’s never seen his teeth before. Naruto just hoped he had any. Or a blush. Something else— he wasn’t entirely sure why.
Naruto smiled at the barista as she handed them their drinks. He grabbed his card and headed to the register.
“I’m glad I finally got you the right gift,” he was saying, as the cashier finished their order. “Can’t go wrong with coffee, right?”
“I’m sure you said the same thing about the other gifts, too.”
Naruto pouted and tapped the card machine.
“Sorry, but the card has declined,” the cashier said, not even blinking. “Do you want to try it again?”
Naruto gulped. Not again .
“ Please .”
He tapped again. Panic crawled up his spine as the word "declined" flashed again.
He checked his card. Fuck .
“Oh, crap! I grabbed the wrong card today…”, he said.
Without saying anything else, Gaara reached for his wallet and paid for their drinks.
“Now I’m really in debt with you,” Naruto pouted as they walked out of the store.
“It’s fine. The coffee is good anyway.”
Naruto groaned. For a moment, he gave up. Maybe it was his destiny: never paying Gaara back with something he liked. As they walked together around the campus, Naruto noticed he was not going in his usual direction.
“Hey, Gaara, I never asked you… What do you study, anyway?”
“Law. What about you?”
Too quiet to be a lawyer, but Naruto could picture it.
“Business Administration. So we study close to each other, huh? Cool! I’ll walk you to your building.”
Naruto didn’t know why he said that. It was actually not close at all, but if Gaara noticed it, he didn’t say anything.
“Have you ever played Ace Attorney ? It made me want to be a lawyer when I was 12.”
Gaara seemed to relax and glanced at him. For half a second, Naruto thought he might smile. But it passed, and he looked away again.
“Yes. I played when I was younger, too. I liked Miles,” Gaara answered.
Naruto laughed.
“Suit yourself.”
Gaara arched his invisible brows again. But before he could say anything else, they arrived at the Law building.
“So, I’ll see you around.” Naruto bumped his shoulder into Gaara’s. This time, he didn’t flinch.
“Thanks, Naruto.”
Before he could ask exactly why Gaara was thanking him—it definitely wasn’t for the coffee—Gaara was already gone. Which meant Naruto himself had to run to not miss his class.
***
“And can you believe my card got declined?” Naruto recounted his morning encounter with Gaara to Sakura during their break, as Sakura usually met with him to walk around or eat something. They were sitting just outside the Labs: those truly were close to the Business Administration building.
“I can’t believe it!” She snickered. “And what did you do?!”
“Un-fucking-beliavable, right?! I grabbed the wrong card today. And it had to be today!” he groaned. “But Gaara paid for our drinks, so now I’m more in debt with him.”
Sakura tilted her head. Her eyes glimmered in a way Naruto didn’t like.
“How so? Haven’t you brought food and a rose to him? More than enough.”
“Ah—You know, he didn’t actually like—”
Sakura gave him her sweetest and innocent stare, not really matching her predator grin.
“But it’s not really about the token, right? He asked you to leave him alone, you didn’t, and now he even talks to you first. And pays for your coffee. You know pretty well Sasuke wouldn’t do it for you.”
“Yeah, but Gaara is my—”
Naruto bit his tongue. Is him what ?
“... my nice friend,” he completed, expression sour.
Sakura’s grin grew wider.
“You care too much. I rest my case.”
Naruto groaned.
“I’m never gossiping with you again. Ino wouldn’t say stuff like that.”
Sakura snorted. “She’d be worse.”
As they continued to bicker, Sakura’s words lingered. She was right, in a way. Why did he care about it? It was just a small favour. He didn’t even know Gaara that well. So why was he acting like it meant more than it should? Maybe Sasuke and Shikamaru were right to call him dramatic.
Naruto tried to shake it off, but the question followed. He thought about it during class. During the bus ride home. And before he went to sleep, while he stared at the ceiling.
His conclusion?
He had no idea.