Call Me Mr. Knight

Chapter 13

I yawned as I walked on the pathway toward my classroom. It's just Monday morning and I already felt like wanting a holiday. I felt exhausted for some reason. No, I felt exhausted for a reason. Sasuke went home late yesterday and Aniki and I started sparring after that. We didn't stop until it was time for dinner and by then I was too exhausted to even change clothes.

The wind was still cold even though the sun was already rising, adding to the drowsy atmosphere. Even the hustle of leaves on the trees beside the pathway sounded very calming, as if wanting to lull me to sleep even more.

And so, in my exhaustion and drowsiness, I didn't realize that a person was already walking in front of me. It was too late when I noticed and the person didn't seem like he noticed me either so we kind of bumped into one another. The impact was enough to throw me off balance and I would've immediately fallen down to the ground if it weren't for the strong hand that pulled my arm, keeping me upright.

I blinked as I looked at the person in front of me and the first thing that I noticed was the white magatama dangling on his ears and the short and fiery red hair that he had. Then I noticed the absence of eyebrows as well as the cool tattoo on his forehead. I furrowed my eyebrows since I was certain I already saw him somewhere somehow.

"You're not looking where you're going, are you?" The words that came out of his mouth were spoken with coldness and I actually felt stunned. I looked at him fully now and I finally remembered him as the silent guy whom I saw in one of my classes. Gaara.

"...Sorry." I apologized as I tried to pry his tight hand off my arm. His hold on me stung. But alas, it felt more awkward now since he's not letting go at all.

"Gaara." Someone with an equally cold voice called behind the redhead and both of us looked at the familiar voice. I'd recognize that arrogant way of addressing people anywhere.

"Sasuke." Gaara finally let go of me and bowed a little to Sasuke. Neji was beside him, glaring at me with those gray eyes of his. Jugo and Suigetsu didn't seem interested in me or Gaara as they kept on talking to themselves. There was also a redheaded girl with glasses on Sasuke's other side who seemed to be ogling the bastard while drooling. I actually found her creepier than Sai.

Sasuke's eyes shifted from Gaara to me before he arched an eyebrow, silently asking me what's going on. Or so I thought. I didn't really know what's going on anymore. All I wanted was an ounce of sleep. Really, just a second of sleep was enough.

"Good morning, Naru-chan!" Sai appeared behind Sasuke and smiled at me with that fake smile of his again. I immediately scowled at him. "I heard from Sasuke that we have a new group member from now on. Could that person be you?" At that, all the other group members stopped talking to themselves, glaring at me, and/or ogling Sasuke. They all looked at me with narrowed eyes, as if inspecting my very core if I was worth standing beside their Sasuke-sama.

I could see that Sai was just trying to make me more annoyed right now, meaning he didn't mean what he just said. I thought Sasuke didn't actually tell his minions who that person was. Or did he? I immediately glared at Sasuke, silently asking him if he really told everyone that I was already part of his group. I haven't agreed yet! Yes, 'yet' was the root word there.

"Sasuke-sama, is that true?" The redhead girl asked Sasuke with disbelief in her voice. It seemed they really didn't know anything. And now that I thought about it, she's the sole person in Sasuke's group that called the bastard with the honorific '-sama'.

"Naruto!" I heard the call of my friends from behind me. Kiba was the first one to arrive and he immediately glared at Sasuke, obviously misinterpreting the situation. Shikamaru came after him then Chouji. The three of them were right behind me, ready to strike given the opportunity and chance despite the huge gap in strength between them and Sasuke's group. They really were such loyal friends and I appreciated them more for that.