Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Not All as It Seems ❯ The Day I Met Naruto, Lee and Gaara ( Chapter 2 )

At last, the story starts for real.

I decided to not post the Prologue chapter until I wrote and finished Chapter 1, then post them together. Why, you may ask? Well, I figured not many people would read it without any familiar faces in there, plus you don't HAVE to read the Prologue to understand what's going on. It's simply an introduction with some comedy thrown in (I do enjoy the comedy). And yes, there will be familiar faces in this installment. Hooray for us! chuckle

 

Title: Not All as It Seems

Warnings: Mo' comedy, mo' comedy, mo' comedy (ah, shut up!)

Pairings: Inspire me with your reviews, PMs and suggestions! My confirmed ones are Gaara/Young (I explained who she is in the Prologue) and Shikamaru/Temari (aw, come on! Y'all admit it's such a cute coupling!)

 

Wee Author's Note: If there's a character that doesn't appear in the chapter, fear not as they may very well appear in the future. However, feel free to give me requests on whom you'd like to make an appearance.

2 rules on this one: Don't make me include characters you hate just to see them bashed. I do not write character-bashing stories; if it's a character I'm not familiar with, I'm afraid I'll have to say no, because I doubt I'd portray them correctly.

 

Disclaimer: sob I simply do not own Naruto or any of its hundreds of characters. I am not writing this for any profit whatsoever, simply for fun. I'm merely borrowing the characters and will return them once I'm done. (aw, can't I keep Gaara and Lee at least, pwease?)

 

Chapter 1

The Day I Met Naruto, Lee and Gaara

 

6th December, 2002 (Friday)

 

At last! The blessed day has come at last!

I must have shouted that at the top of my lungs at least two hundred times. This did earn me some very concerned looks from my parents, having clearly mistaken my excitement for senility or something. What is it with parents not showing excitement the way us kids did? I'll never understand it.

For the umpteenth time, I took a look round my bare room, just to be sure I didn't forget to pack anything. Yep, all the shelves were cleared of my action-figure collection, the cupboards were emptied of all my games and consoles, there wasn't a single stuffed toy left on my bed.

`Shucks, this looks like the bedroom of the dead at best!' I thought to myself.

“Claire, are you ready in there!?” I heard my dad call.

Paling just a touch more than I already was and with butterflies in my tummy, I replied, “Coming! Coming!” (I guess I failed to mention that one of my biggest fears was flying, and now that we were soon going to do just that, my excitement turned just like that into pure nervousness)

Taking a deep, deep breath, I slipped on my trusty dark gray denim jacket, grabbed my backpack and started wheeling my new luggage (purple, yay!).

 

§

 

Two flights and twenty orange soda cans later, and we were finally at the airport! Ground! Sweet, lovely, beautiful ground! I was very much tempted to drop to the cold floor and kiss it, I was so glad to be off the plane, but I quickly thought against it.

`That might be something that would convince them I've really gone off my rocker,' I scolded myself.

Thankfully, my brother had fallen asleep during most of the trip and hadn't woken up yet, deep-sleeper that he was.

I went and grabbed a trolley, then we made our way to the Baggage Claim. Watching the conveyor belt bring out one luggage after the other, I kept my eyes wide open for any sights of purple… Ah, here it comes!

Dad grabbed it and put it in the trolley. Shortly after, he tossed another and another. That's all of them.

After we'd gone through all the procedures to which I really paid no attention, we were finally out of there.

 

§

 

With my face pressed to the passenger window of our rental car, I found myself simply unable to take my eyes off the hundreds of buildings we passed, not to mention the ones in the distance, all lit up for the evening.

“Golly! San Francisco sure is prettier than in the pictures!” I said in appreciation.

My parents nodded in agreement.

A couple of hours later of watching the sights though, I got pretty bored. I did have my Gameboy in my bag, but I dared not use it. I'd get carsick simply at the mere thought of doing something in a moving vehicle that involved reading.

It was late anyway, might as well catch some shuteye myself until we got to our apartment.

A few minutes later, or at least it felt like a few minutes later, I felt someone shaking me by the shoulder.

“Wh-wha…?” I mumbled with a sleepy sigh.

“We're here,” came my mom's voice.

My exhaustion fading in a split-second, I opened my eyes wide and was surprised to be staring at an afternoon sky, not the night sky. Yes, it was gray and covered in clouds, but it was definitely not night-time.

“Huh? But it should be night! I saw the buildings all lit up and everything!” I said in surprise. The drive couldn't have been that long… could it?

“You must have been dreaming that, dear. In fact, you fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car,” said Mom.

Oh, whoops! I'd forgotten all about the time-difference!

Raising my arms above my head in a stretch after having been confined in that car for hours, I freed my hair of its ponytail, much to my mom's approval, who simply hated it when I tied it back (causing me to tie or braid it as often as I could).

“See there? There's your school right over on that street,” my dad pointed with one hand, while holding a huge luggage in the other.

I turned my head to where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a huge, gorgeous old-looking building. No sooner had I glued my eyes onto this historical-looking building, then the huge double-doors burst open and out came a crowd of happy teenage students, all rejoicing that it was the weekend at last.

“I'd forgotten that their holidays start later than when they usually do in Gozo,” I muttered.

Out loud I said, “Can I go and meet up with them? Who knows? I might make a new friend or two.”

Both of them nodded as if to say, `Duh! Go do it!'

Handing them my backpack, I sprinted to the school steps, determined to talk to the very next person that came out…

In good old sitcom fashion, the next person to come out was a huge boy who looked so menacing, as if pounding people was his true joy in life.

`Eesh! Very wrong number!' I gulped.

“Can ya believe that old geezer?! Who does he think he is, anyway?!” came a loud voice.

“Actually, I can.” (my, this one sounded sexy!)

“Really, Naruto! Sometimes I do not believe your antics.”

Pretending to whistle to myself, I studied the group of boys that now were in full view.

The loud one happened to be much taller than I was (drat!); he had bright, blonde hair and shining blue eyes that clearly said `trouble'. He was kinda cute, and that orange sweater with black sleeves he was wearing looked super-comfy.

The one to his right was somewhat taller. He was wearing a strange green suit, and had a funny haircut (black hair/eyes) and really bushy eyebrows. Looking closely at his face, though, I liked him instantly. He looked like the type that no matter what odds he had going against him, he wasn't going to quit without giving it all he had.

Nodding, I turned my head to the final of the trio. I swear I almost felt light-headed, and… Oh come on, am I drooling!?

Hastily wiping my mouth on my jacket's sleeve, I resumed my star… I mean studying of the boy.

He looked to be a couple of inches taller than the loud one. Atop his head rested a thick mane of gorgeous flaming red hair, complete with bangs that I suddenly got the urge to brush out of his forehead (if my parents knew I was getting these giddy thoughts they'd kill me!). Just under these bangs, I noticed a most strange sign… was it a tattoo? Anyhow, the eyes. They were a nice teal, and held lots of intelligence but they looked kind too. To my delight, I noticed he was almost as pale as me! (I had had it up to here with seeing lots of tanned skin next to my snow white complexion)

Uh oh, were they approaching… me?! I panicked and quickly bent down, pretending my shoelace had come undone.

“HIYA!” shouted blondie.

Ouch, my ears…

Looks like my feeble act wasn't fooling any of them anyway, so I got back up, rubbing my abused ears.

“I'm not deaf, you know?” I said with a slight chuckle.

“Cool! You have an accent!”

“Naruto, behave yourself!” scolded the one in the green suit.

“Well, she does!” he said defensively.

“Uh, yeah. I just moved here,” I attempted.

“Really?! From where?! Are you from Canada?!” the boy called Naruto asked in a cheery voice.

“Do I sound like a Canadian?!” I asked in horror.

“Of course you don't,” the black-haired boy said. I noticed the redhead said absolutely nothing during this whole exchange. Was he being shy? Do dudes get shy?

“Where then?”

With a wink, I said, “Europe.”

“Cool! You're European! But, where exactly?”

I must admit, I was looking forward to this bit. Would I have them as confused as I imagined I would? I had best answer them and see.

“Malta. Gozo, to be exact.”

Bingo!

All three of them looked at me blankly.

“Er, is that a new pizza-topping?” Naruto asked.

“I must admit I have never heard of that place before…”

Still, Red said nothing. Blast! His reaction was what I really wanted to hear.

“Pizza-topping! Good one!” I said with a giggle.

“Where exactly is it?”

“Oh, it's actually very close to Italy, but don't bother looking for it on a world map. You won't find it,” I replied matter-of-factly.

Malta was lucky enough to be displayed (in the rare cases that it was displayed) as a mere dot, but Gozo and Comino never seemed to be at all.

“Oh my!”

“What, Lee?!” shouted Naruto, suddenly worried.

“We didn't even introduce ourselves, did we?”

“Jeez, you're such a dork sometimes!” said Naruto with a playful thwack to Lee's head.

“I am Rock Lee,” he said ignoring Naruto, and shaking my hand. Boy, this guy had a grip that could break stones in a second!

Shaking it back, I said, “Hiya, Lee! I'm Claire.”

“And I'm the great Naruto Uzumaki!” shouted said teenager, shoving Lee aside and shaking both my arms like he was trying out some new diseased dance.

“All right, all right! Don't break my arms!”

Pulling them back, I waited with bated breath to see if Dreamboat was finally going to say something.

My heartbeat actually got pretty painful when he stepped right in front of me. I sure hope he couldn't hear it, how embarrassing would that be?

Taking my hand in his, he (finally) said, “Sabaku Gaara.”

I couldn't help myself at the time; apparently, neither could Naruto, for together we shouted, “HE SPEAKS!”

Whoops, this Gaara chap actually looked insulted. He let go of my hand (phooey!) and moved back a bit.

“Come on, I was only teasing!” I said, feeling pretty bad.

“Yeah man, me too!”

“Naruto, you tease everyone!” Lee pointed out.

“Whatever! Can we go eat now?” said Naruto, his hands folded behind his head.

“Hm, I am pretty famished myself,” said Lee.

“Race ya!!”

Before I knew what was happening, both Naruto and Lee sprinted like the wind to who-knows-where.

“Golly! Who set their butts on fire?” I asked Gaara.

“They're always like that,” he said simply.

“What? All the time?”

He nodded, actually chuckling a bit. Well, at least he didn't seem offended anymore. Phew!

 

§

 

“Ah! I'll have another!” Naruto shouted to the waitress.

“That's your fifth bowl already!”

“It's neat that you're so good at Math!”

I never knew anyone to have this kind of an obsession with ramen before. It seemed to match my love for orange soda, I noted as I finished my third glass.

“Yeah, I'd like a refill on my soda, too!” I added to the poor exasperated waitress.

“Why so much orange soda?” asked Naruto.

“I love orange soda,” I responded, desperately trying to stop a burp from escaping my throat.

“Just like how I love my ramen!” he said, high-fiving me.

Lee had just finished his bowl of curry, setting his plate on the table.

Even though this meal was Gaara's treat, he himself had nothing. He just sat there, looking somewhat bored with his arms crossed over his chest.

Turning my head around, trying to spot the waitress with my orange soda, I noticed a table with a group of seven girls seated around it. They were looking at me in a way as if they wanted lightning to strike me or something.

Poking my elbow into the redhead's arm, I asked, “Why are those girls looking at me as if they wanna kill me?”

Both Naruto and Lee heard this question and looked at where I was facing.

“Oh, don't worry about them. They always look at other chicks like that if they're anywhere near Gaara.”

With that, Naruto stuffed a fist into his mouth, and pounded the table with the other. He was shaking like a leaf with laughter.

“Great, a psycho fanclub's after my blood,” I said, joining him.

 

§

 

Finally, after Naruto had had his fill (I'd lost count after ten bowls), we went to his place. Actually, it was Lee's apartment, but he and Naruto were roommates.

It was kind of strange once we stepped inside. Parts of it were immaculately tidy, with not a crumb or particle of dust to be seen, yet others were littered with school things, clothes, games and all other manners of things.

“So, what do you wanna do first?” Naruto asked.

Tapping my chin, I asked, “I wanna see your gaming collection.”

All three of them looked at me as though I'd suddenly sprouted a new pair of arms.

“What? Girls can like games too!” I snapped.

“Your favorite game being?” asked the blonde.

“Final Fantasy VII,” I responded automatically.

“That's it?”

“What? You want me to list ALL of them?”

“Well… what's your favorite horror game?” he grinned, thinking girls couldn't possibly like those.

“Resident Evil 2,” I said, with a note in my voice that I hoped was a good enough hint for him to tell me whether he had the game or not.

“Your favorite villain?” (shucks! What is this, 20 Questions?)

“What? In Resi Evil? That would be Nemmy, of course!”

“Oh yeah! That guy's cool! But why do people call the Nemesis Nemmy?” Naruto asked.

“Beats me. We just do.”

“Well, I wanna kick your butt at Tekken!”

“You're so random, but sure! I'll take that challenge!”

With a most mischievous grin, he raced to his room to get the game.

“Can I get you something? I am afraid he'll be in there a while,” Lee said, indicating the mess here and there.

“In that case, I'll accept a cup of tea,” I said. “No milk, a little sugar.”

With a polite smile, Lee disappeared into the small kitchen.

Tapping my feet, I tucked my hands behind my head and chanced a look at Gaara. What the?! Was he doing… homework?! On a Friday?! No one does that, especially boys!

Before I could ask him why on Earth he was doing his homework now, there came a bright flash, followed by a loud boom. Almost instantly, rain began to pound against the window.

I practically squealed in terror as yet another flash came, and before I knew what I'd done, I was holding onto Gaara's waist for dear life.

At that inopportune time came both Lee with my tea and Naruto brandishing a rather worn-looking Tekken 3 copy.

“What is going on here?” asked Lee.

Naruto let out an explosive snort. “Aw! `Tis love at first sight!”

Finally noticing my embarrassing position, not to mention the tall red-haired boy looking at me funny, I quickly let go.

“Actually, I'm afraid of thunderstorms,” I admitted, feeling my face turn redder than Gaara's hair.

“You serious?” Naruto said with another laugh.

“Ah shut up!! It's not like there's nothing you're afraid of!” I said defensively.

“Well, now that you mention it… Nope, nothing scares me!”

With an annoyed sigh, I grabbed the cushion just behind me and slammed it upside Naruto's head.

“Let's just play already,” I said, accepting the tea from Lee. “And don't you dare be a cheapskate with Yoshimitsu!”

“Yeah, yeah. I'll still win.”

 

§

 

After around 30 minutes of battling (Lee was doing some press-up exercises and Gaara was back at his work), we ended up having an equal amount of wins.

“Why do you always use Lei?” demanded Naruto.

“His stances are helluva cool!”

“Well, Law is cooler!”

“No way, Lei!”

“Nuh uh, Law!”

“Lei!”

“Law!”

“Lei!”

“Law!”

Gaara suddenly slamming his current book shut interrupted our argument.

“Uh, what were we talking about again?” I asked confused.

“No clue,” Naruto said happily.

Lee was now performing one handstand after another. Wow, no wonder he was in such good shape! Best not to interrupt him.

“Come on, Gaara, just one fight!” I begged for the hundredth time.

“He's too chicken!” Naruto teased.

“Yeah, man. No teenage boy hates games!” I said.

He simply shook his head, and would not be persuaded.

That is until Naruto started to do a funky chicken-dance right in front of him.

“If I do this once, will you stop?” he asked quietly.

“You betcha!” Naruto cheered.

Shucks, when Gaara held Naruto's controller, I could very well see he meant it when he said he never played a game in his life.

“This is gonna be SO funny!”

“Talk is cheap, my son,” I told Naruto. His randomness must be contagious…

I, of course, picked Lei. Gaara on the other hand was still choosing, “How does this work?” or not…

With a snort, Naruto showed him, and Dr. B was chosen.

Poor Gaara really had no clue what he was doing, and in a few seconds we heard, `K.O.!' and `Lei Wins!'

“Dude, that was so brutal!”

“Couldn't agree more, pal.”

As if to punish us for being mean, a particularly bright flash followed immediately by a horrifyingly loud crash came, and we were all engulfed in darkness.

“Oh, man!” I could hear Naruto grumble.

“Ouch! You stepped on my foot, Naruto!” I moaned and pushed him away.

“I'll get the candles!” came Lee's voice.

The rain was still pounding furiously on the window's glass, and I felt around and grabbed onto the nearest hand and held on as tightly as I could.

In a bit, Lee was back with a candle and handed it to Naruto. Then he was gone again to get some more.

Uh oh, if I wasn't holding Naruto's hand…

I quickly shoved both my hands in my pockets and held them there. No way was I gonna let the hyperactive blonde tease me again.

“Now what?” Naruto asked, turning to face us.

“We could do shadow puppets,” I offered.

The two boys looked at me most disapprovingly.

“Jeez! I was just jokin'!” I snapped, then muttered “men…” just loud enough for them to hear.

Before another pointless argument could ensue, Lee was back with three more candles, handing one each to Gaara and me.

“Uh, let's see, do you guys own an instrument?” I dared.

Lee shook his head, as if appalled by the very idea.

“Nope, not me,” Naruto answered.

Pity…

What to do? What to do?

 

End Chapter 1

 

Tee hee, this was even funner to write than the Prologue. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

Just so y'all know, yes I am indeed afraid of flying and thunderstorms. As for the gaming, Tekken 3 is the first fighting game after Street Fighter I ever played. I thought it deserved an honorable mention here.

Writing for Naruto, Lee and Gaara was also a treat. Can't wait to do it again. (I dunno if Lee speaks like this in the dub, but I noticed he speaks like that in the game Konoha Spirits, and I thought it was really cute, so I stuck with it)

Now that it's all written, I'll post them and hope someone will like the story. But please, Please, PLEASE no flames! Be civil in your reviews, it's not the hardest thing in the world to do, after all.