Walking into his class, he never expected it to be so quiet. Only silents murmurs spread across the room, everyone seeking peeks at the back of the classroom. Lifting his head and looking towards that direction, Kakashi saw Naruto sitting back there, the blonde head turned towards the windows.

'He looks different. Healthier. That's good.' Kakashi thought and he went to his desk and commenced the lesson. Throughout the lesson, Kakashi analysed the room, mostly concentrating at Naruto and his active bullies. Dividing his concentration, the teacher realised how most of them still hated the blonde.

'No. Not hate. But they still want to hurt him. They still want to make him suffer but it is not hate.' Kakashi came to the conclusion, saddened by the knowledge that these high-school students could be so cruel.

'I'm certain that if they knew what Naruto went through... They would feel so guilty but it's not my place to say.'

'But, Sabaku though...'

Sea-foam eyes stared in the direction of where the small whiskered blonde was, looking at him sadly. Gaara saw how depressed and small Naruto looked at it was hard to drown the feelings of guilt flowing through him.

'I had no idea...' Gaara thought as he still continued to look at Naruto.

'I know how it feels like. To be so alone in this world. To feel so insignificant and worthless. Wanting to have someone to cry on and to laugh with. Wanting to feel loved.' The thoughts swirled through the red-head as he began to reminisce about his past. Naruto and him...

'At least, I had the capacity to hate everyone who hurt me. But him, he doesn't know how the hate. Only to forget.'

As he stared, at that moment, blue eyes turned to his direction and looked back. Their eyes clashed again like last time and Naruto looked in shock, quickly turning his head away. Gaara could faintly see the laboured breathing of the blonde boy and realised that he was scared. Pity emerged through Gaara .

The bell rang and everyone hurriedly stood up, trying to make their way to the cafeteria fast. Gaara packed his books and picked up his bag. Sparing one last glance at the blonde, he left with one goal in mind.

'I will change my ways.'

Lunch

Without going to the cafeteria, Naruto made a quick dash to the roof top to hide from everyone. Mostly he wanted to think about what happened in literature class. He was so confused, bewildered and dare he say... happy?

Plopping down on the concrete ground and leaning back against the wall, he out-stretched his legs and relaxed, but his mind was in a frenzy of turmoil.

'Why... Why did Gaara look at me like that? Like I'm some lost puppy. He doesn't hate me anymore?' Naruto thought as he looked at the sunny, cloudy sky. Cirrus clouds floated across the bright blue sky and slowly Naruto felt his body unwinding.

"Maybe... everything would be fine." Naruto whispered.

"Maybe, we might be friends." He said, happy at the prospect of having someone he could talk, laugh and hang out with. Like everyone else has.

"Oi dobe."

"GAH! Teme! Don't sneak up on people!" Naruto shouted, looking at Sasuke. The raven sat down next to him, holding a bento box in his hand. Dropping it on Naruto's lap, Sasuke looked down at the ground, hoping the blonde wouldn't see his red face.

Naruto felt a weight on his legs and looked down at the lunchbox. Blinking his eyes in confusion, he turned to the bastard in question.

"You're supposed to eat something idiot. You still need to gain your strength back." Sasuke said. Naruto grinned at the bastard's bashfulness.

"Aww teme! No need to be shy!" Naruto teased before glomping him to piss Sasuke off further. Sasuke glared at the smiling blonde but did nothing to push him off as he liked the feeling of those wiry arms around him.

Naruto looked up at the raven and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you though." The whiskered angel said as he removed himself off Sasuke and opened the bento.

"Did you eat though?" Naruto asked. Sasuke smiled a bit and nodded, ruffling the sunflower lock with his slender fingers. A slight pink appeared across the whiskered face. Sasuke smirked.

"Now whose being shy. Blushing like some love-struck school girl." Sasuke said playfully. Naruto glared at the bastard before punching his arm.

"Asshole! For a second I thought you were a nice person." Naruto pouted. Sasuke grinned before he got up.

"I got to go. Don't skip lunch next time. I'll tell mom to pack your bento in your bag." Giving one last ruffle to the fluffy, golden hair, he walked out. Naruto smiled at the retreating back of the raven and ate his lunch.

2 hours later

'Yay! Finally a free period!' Naruto rejoiced in his head, walking out of the art class. Even though he loved art and he liked to draw, he couldn't help but feel relieved getting out of that class. Everyone still stared at him like he was some disgusting bug.

'You'd think they would be used to me by now.' The blonde thought sadly.

'Like... What the fuck did I do to make them hate me so much. It's like I killed something they loved or some shit like that.' He sighed as he made his way over to the library.

'Hmm... I don't think Sasuke is free this period. Neither is Kiba I hope!' The blonde prayed. The hallways were empty again as everyone was in their respective classes.

'Shit. Better make it there fast. Empty hallways are a bad sign.' Naruto began to walk a bit faster, trying not to make any noise. As he passed a junction in the hallways...

"AHH!"

He felt himself being pulled and chocked from the collar of his shirt. Being slammed to the wall for the thousandth time in his life, he opened his crunched up eyes to see Kiba's pissed off face.

"You think you got away huh? Uzumaki?" Kiba punched his stomach hard. Naruto gasped, his tender skin getting bruised up again. The blonde knew he was going to get his as handed to him if he didn't get away so he did the only think he could do...

Raising his arms, he shoved Kiba away from him and punched back. The brunette fell back onto the floor, shocked. Before he could react, Naruto made a mad dash and ran to the library. Finally he was in a safe zone. He looked at the people who were there and there were no one he recognised.

'Good.' The blonde thought.

Walking to the back of the room, he looked at the bookshelves trying to pick a good book to read. As he walked down the aisle of books, looking at them, he bumped into someone.

"Oh! I'm sor-r-r-"

Looking up, he saw very familiar and striking eyes looking back at him.

"It's no problem, Naruto." The red-head said. Looking at the blonde, he turned back around to see the empty table he was sitting at.

"Sit with me?"

Sorry if this chapter is not a good one. I've been really depressed lately but I wanted to publish a chapter. Hopefully you like it. :)