Frozen Past (A Naruto FanFic/Gaara Love Story)

Beginnings

"Akari Kita!"

I lift my head from the desk, squinting down at Iruka Sensei. "Yes?" I mumble, leaning my head on my palm. A few snickers pass through the class, which I choose to ignore. Iruka Sensei sighs. "It's your turn," he says.

"My turn?" I echo stupidly.

He glares at me. "Your turn for the graduation exam," he says slowly, in that irritating way all teachers seem to use. I push myself up from my seat, kicking back my chair, and slowly make my down to the front of the class. I pass a dejected looking Naruto and raise an eyebrow at him. He pouts and turns away, arms across his chest. How badly did his exam go?

"So," I say. "What Jutsu am I doing, Sensei?" Iruka Sensei pinches the bridge of his nose, refusing to look at me. "The Clone Jutsu," he says, in a way that tells me he's tired of repeating himself for my benefit. He does it a lot, actually.

I shrug. I'm not as lazy as Shikamaru at least. That's got to count for something. I make a handsign, holding it in front of my chest. I gather my chakra and say, "Clone Jutsu." In a flash of smoke that burns my eyes, two very real-looking Akaris appear beside me. I narrow my eyes at my clone's hair, wondering why I didn't brush out my bed-head this morning. Oh wait. It probably got like that when I fell asleep in the middle of class. Again.

Someone claps behind me. I look over my shoulder to see Hinata, blushing slightly as several pairs of eyes turn on her. She's being nice, unlike some people.

I turn back to Iruka, who's now smiling. I'll admit, he's the reason I actually try to do well. It's just funny to see my Sensei's goofy smile, which he shows whenever I do something right. "Good work, Akari," he says, nodding. "See what happens when you put forth a little effort?" I shrug, undoing my Jutsu. He sighs again. "Here, you've earned this, I guess." He tosses me a headband with our signature leaf symbol on it. I grin slightly at the sight of it. Despite my lack of enthusiasm with school, I've been looking forward to being a Shinobi for a while now. Then I frown, looking back at the class.

Everyone's passed.

Except Naruto.

Oh boy. Kid must be hurting on the inside. I mutter a thanks to Iruka, then head back up the steps. But instead of heading for my own seat, I take the empty one next to Naruto. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye but says nothing.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, I think to myself. I've only heard stories about the beast, but I know it killed a whole lot of Hidden Leaf Ninja twelve years ago, before the Fourth Hokage sealed it inside a child. That child happens to be sitting next to me. The fact that he has a demon inside him doesn't bother me all that much, not like it does the others. As long as he doesn't go on a rampage and try to kill everyone, I'm just going to see him as Naruto Uzumaki, "Future Hokage", as he puts it. But unless he gets better with his Ninja skills, that dream will always be just a dream.

I'm rooting for him, though, since I don't think anyone else in my class has the desire to become Hokage. We all like the Third, and don't really enjoy the idea of not having him around. But he'll have to go someday, I suppose, and if Naruto cleans up his act a little, he might just be in the running.

"You ok?" I ask him quietly. His eyes widen, surprised at my concern, before they narrow at me. "Stop pretending," he mutters, turning away again. I sigh. I figured he'd react like this. No one ever really talks to him. They just point and whisper behind his back. I've seen him outside on the lonely swing just in front of the Academy, all by himself, watching the other students. He doesn't trust anyone to say a kind word to him, and I'm not surprised. I myself don't really acknowledge him, either, but I don't mock him. It isn't much better, but I don't think he'd accept me as a friend. Not if he doesn't believe I have good intentions, anyway.