Nat’s POV:
I had tried. I had tried so hard, to get my act together and come back soon enough. But whenever I tried to unlock the door, I always remembered Orochimaru’s face as he saw me at the door for the first time. Tears would fill my eyes and I would start to cry, sliding against the door and falling asleep there after crying for an hour or so. I then had finished the funeral plans, and was now taking care of the house.
I had taken care of Izaya while Kurenai was gone on the conference trip, and thankfully, it took my mind off it a lot. I missed Gaara. He was always able to cheer me up when I was in this kind of mood. As I walked into the classroom, he wasn’t there. I frowned a little, and sighed before sitting down next to Hinata. I got hugged by her, and smiled softly, hugging her back before patting her head. “Gomen, for worrying you.” I whisper to her, and I turn back to the board before writing notes.
Hearing a crack of the door, I turned to see Gaara with wide eyes, and his eyes filled with something I could not recognize. Then, without a word, he stormed out of the classroom.
“G-Gaara?” I start softly, and stand up. “K-Kurenai-sensei, would you like me-”
“Yes, very much indeed. I think most of us know why he’s acting this way. Go on, Nat.” Kurenai nods, and I get up from my seat, starting to jog towards the direction I saw him run to. Jogging along, I frowned seeing him perched on the tree, shredding leaves into a small pile of crisp, golden and red strips.
“Gaara.” I murmur, climbing up the tree and touching his shoulder gently. He stiffened, then looked at me with a sad glare. “Gaara, please, I can-”
“No. No you can’t. You left me for a damn week without saying anything! I thought you went missing...or-or if you got hit or hurt. I couldn’t forgive myself if that happened, Nat! I’ve already hurt enough people!” He yells, his eyes slowly filling with tears. I opened my mouth but he shook his head. “I’m not finished. You left me and Hinata here without any contact, if anything, we thought you were sick...or...or…” He bites his lip, and shakes his head quickly. “Chigau!” He puts his hands over his eyes, his hands trembling as I saw clear liquid flow from his eyes. Tears. I made Gaara cry. I was not a good friend. I was a horrible friend, leaving him there like that.
“Gaara…” I whispered, and wrapped my arms around him, his head nestled in my neck. I blushed as I held him close, clenching my fists. “I’m sorry. When...when I came back...there was ambulances by the house. Something had happened...and...when I went upstairs...I realized that Opaa-san had passed. He had fallen down in a coughing attack, and I wasn’t there to help him. I have to plan his funeral, and take care of the house, not to mention the living expenses. I had to take a break...because...I wasn’t ready for any of this.”
Tears fell from my eyes, dripping from my chin onto his hair. “So...Gomen. Gomen, for leaving you. Gomene, Gaara.” I whisper to him, and feel his cold, yet soothing hands wrap around me, pulling me even closer. “I won’t leave you again. I promise.” I whisper, and close my eyes, letting his tears fall against my neck.
Koko’s POV:
Sitting next to Sasori, I propped my head on my fist, listening absentmindedly to the teacher-Kurenai-sensei- talk about the cells of a living organism. I looked over at Sasori, who was tinkering with some wooden doll-like figure. I smiled a little, and looked over at him, observing how he nimbly moved the limbs of the doll around, pressing on some buttons and pulling on the strings of the puppet. I grinned, amused and fascinated.
He probably noticed that I was staring at him, because then he said, “This is called ‘The Scorpion’.” He mumbled this in a husky voice, and my cheeks flushed as I quickly looked away.
“S-So?” I murmur back, and blush even further. I scowl at him, and cross my arms quickly looking the other way. “I-It wasn’t like I wanted to know what it was.” I mutter, and he only chuckled, his eyes a little less bored than they first were.
I smiled a little, and looked over at Kurenai-sensei, my scarlet hair streaks of crimson as I turned to answer a question of hers. When I looked back, I saw him working on it again, but there was something different in how he worked with it. His fingers were nimbly creating the movements with the strings, his hands more relaxed, not as stiff. I looked at his lips, blushing faintly. The one thing I found the most different was his face. There was a little, a faint whisper, of a smile on his face.
Next Period-Gym-Nat’s POV:
After coming back to the classroom, we were then going to Gym with Gai-sensei. We had to do our swimming unit this semester, and so all of the girls and I were changing in the locker room. My cheeks flushed as I slowly undressed, quickly pulling the blue swimsuit over my figure and adjusting the straps. The swimsuit the girls wore was a one piece, though it was low cut, so Hinata had some trouble with it. Because the swim unit was combined of both of the classes, Hinata and I were able to be in the same class now, though it was not as enjoyable as it should’ve been.
“N-Nat-san, I c-can’t go out like this, N-Naruto-kun will-”
“You’ll be fine, it’ll be okay, Hinata.” I sooth her, blushing a lot looking down at my own chest. I didn’t have much of a chest, though I did have at least something, like Ino. Ino- who was standing next to me- tied her hair into a bun as she linked her arm in mine.
“C’mon, Nattie-chan, Hina-chan! Let’s go look over at the guys!” She smiles and giggles a little, before linking her other arm with Sakura. “I-I mean, Chouji looked okay before the summer, b-but now he’s…” A blush forms and she giggles a little more, her cheeks crimson and her smile bashful. Sakura chuckles, her lips playing an amused smile.
“Did you hear? The Cultural Festival is coming really soon, so after school today we’re all going to help set up!” She smiles excitedly. “I can’t wait!” She smiles more. I smile faintly, and cover my frame with my towel so no one can look at my figure.
“Alright ladies, time to jump into the water!” Gai-sensei’s voice rang through the walls, and my cheeks flushed as I started towards the door, opening it and blushing a lot, almost getting a nosebleed.
All of the guys were shirtless.
