The art of sand

Chapter5


Dark eyes were watching him. They always were. A shiver crawled up his back. The lecture coming from the front of the classroom fell on deaf ears. He looked around him slowly. No one to the left. Or the right. His eyebrows furrowed together. Naruto turned around quickly. Sitting right behind him, Sasuke was staring at him. His hands were folded in front of his mouth. Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"Teme. You’re creeping me out," he hissed before turning back to face the teacher.

His eyes slid in and out of focus. His mind grabbed to the voice. This was important. The mid-term was soon. Naruto took a deep breath. He pushed the boy staring at him from his mind. He found his focus for the voice. His pen touched his paper, and he wrote furiously. He could not afford to fail this class, and Neji would not help him study anymore. Naruto pushed all other thoughts away again. This was important! Naruto felt like collapsing after leaving the class. Sasuke brushed past him.

"Just have your little boyfriend help you, dobe," Sasuke smirked.

"I can’t," Naruto’s face flared up red.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. The blush was enough to tell him those study sessions most likely ended up in actions nowhere near studying. Sasuke slipped his hands in his pockets.

"I suppose I could help you," he yawned.

"Wha-? You? Help me?"

"That’s what I said, isn’t it?"

The boys frowned at each other. Naruto’s hands formed fists by his side.

"Why would I want your help anyways? You’ve gotten weird after high school. Now all you do is stare at me. Ha! You’re probably failing too."

Naruto’s expression turned smug. He was quite proud of himself for discovering the possibility of the great Uchiha Sasuke failing. Sasuke snorted and turned to walk away.

"I’m still top in the class. Don’t flatter yourself, dobe. Why would I stare at you?"

Naruto growled low, and started walking forward. He grabbed Sasuke’s shoulder and spun him around roughly. His eyes flashed dangerously.

"Look, teme! There’s no way I’m imagining that."

"There is. And you are."

Another hand landed on Sasuke’s free shoulder. Naruto looked up. His face split into that wide, annoying grin of his. Sasuke melted inside at the sight. His scowl remained on his face as he followed the hand up to its owner. Neji smiled softly down at Naruto.

"He isn’t bothering you, Uchiha-san?"

"Hn."

"Neji-chan, he stares at me!" Naruto whined.

Neji chuckled softly. He released Sasuke’s shoulder, and pulled Naruto away from the black-haired boy.

"Gomen ne, Uchiha-san."

"Whatever," Sasuke waved it off.

He turned to leave them. His rage was near boiling over. That should be him holding that blonde dobe. He bit his bottom lip hard. The metallic taste filled his mouth.

"Ne, teme! I’ll study with you," Naruto called after him.

Sasuke’s steps faltered. He smoothly recovered. Naruto never noticed. Neji almost missed it. Sasuke raised a hand in acknowledgement. Naruto snuggled into Neji happily. Now there was no way he would fail the mid-term. Naruto pulled Neji off towards his next class. Sai was stepping into the room when they arrived.

"Sai!" Naruto yelled.

Sai stopped walking to look behind him. Naruto’s grin was the first thing he saw. Sai smiled and backtracked over to the couple.

"Hi, Naruto. Neji."

Neji nodded to him. Naruto pulled him into a one armed hugged around his waist. Sai seemed to be part of the little group now. Naruto launched into his rant about how Sasuke had changed, and was staring at him all the time. Sai slipped away quickly once inside the classroom. Neji kissed Naruto deeply, before he headed to his own class. Naruto blushed and smiled. Sai was already studying his book when Naruto found a seat next to him.

"You’re always studying those art books, huh?"

"Yes. It’s very important to me to be this good one day," Sai explained.

"Whatever man. You’re already better than them," Naruto groaned.

Sai nodded and kept studying the book. Naruto rolled his eyes. He leaned back in his seat as he waited for class to start. His day was almost over. He would stop and see Gaara today. It had been awhile since he had visited his friend. Naruto thrived on his friends. Since high school he had been slowly losing contact with them. He smiled fondly at the thought that he could still count on Gaara. He reached down and touched his side softly. He focused on the beginning lecture.



*****

Gaara sneezed. He quickly washed his face with the running water. He frowned at the mirror after wiping his face. He turned the water off and put on his apron. Someone was probably talking about him. Most likely Naruto. Gaara left the bathroom. Lee waved a greeting as Gaara took his place behind to counter to handle to-go orders. He smiled brightly and started making coffee. Lee observed his friend working. The lunch rush - and their boss - prevented him from approaching Gaara. Something was very different about him. A lot more of the smiles seemed not so forced. That blonde kid had perfect timing. The moment it seemed Lee had a chance, Naruto was bouncing into the café yelling Gaara’s name. Sasuke, Neji and Sai walked in after him. Naruto was hanging on the counter, pleading for a treat. Gaara actually laughed. Lee decided to let them have their fun. He watched Sai tense up at the sound of the laughter instead. The Sai boy was much more fun to watch, anyways.