Irregularity

Chapter Three – Increase Blue

“Yes, Temari. I’m actually sick. Could you please come pick me up from school?” Gaara was growing impatient with his sister’s skepticism. She was the only one home that he could call, and here she was doubting his credibility. “Please…I hear it again…” he admitted, putting as little emphasis on ‘it’ as he could. The last thin he wanted was the school administration to know he was crazy.

“I see. So someone tried to interact with you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you.”

Gaara hung up the phone and sat in the wobbly wooden chair in the corner of the office. Why did it have to be Sasuke? he questioned silently. A voice just as silent responded, a voice that he dreaded hearing.

Child, you are feeling. You can’t feel. It isn’t allowed. Cut out the feelings.

Gaara gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to cut himself right there in the office. He felt himself reaching into his pocket and gripping the slim casing on the X-acto knife. No he screamed inside his head. Just wait till Temari gets here. She’ll- His mental battle was interrupted as the source of his current instability walked through the door. Gaara’s eyes widened almost in shock and his hand froze in his pocket. “What are you…” he questioned quietly, shaking his head in realization as he saw the backpack Sasuke clutched in his left hand. “You forgot your bag in the locker room…” The dark-haired boy eyed him with an air of suspicion, bordering on disgust. Slowly, Gaara’s fingers uncurled from around his knife and slid out of his pocket. He stared at the tiled floor in shame and anger. He was disgusted with himself. “Thanks…” he muttered, his voice coming out in a choked whisper. “Yeah, you’re welcome.” Sasuke started for the for the door, then stopped and turned back to look at Gaara. The red-haired boy looked up upon not hearing the door and feeling the gaze – there it was again, that feeling as black locked onto teal – and he was surprised to see that Sasuke almost looked…pained? “Look…Gaara, you should talk to someone about that.” He nodded toward Gaara’s arms, which were laying slack across his lap. The troubled teen’s eyes widened again in shock and he gaped a little. Was he serious? He looked genuinely concerned. Before he could question the reason, Sasuke was out the door and his own sister was standing in front of him. “Hey, you ready to go?” Without much hassle, Temari signed Gaara out of school and he breathed a sigh of relief as they left the office.

“So…someone actually talked to you, huh?” the blonde began, this being the ice-breaker of a morbid questionnaire that her little brother had not had to endure for quite some time.

“Yeah…” Actually, it started before he even literally spoke.

“What was the kid’s name?”

“Sasuke…Uchiha.”

“An Uchiha, eh? You’d be considered lucky, if this wasn’t causing that to flair up again…” Temari sighed. “I went to school with that guy’s older brother. He was…definitely a trip.” Itachi Uchiha had been the top antisocialite in the history of the highschool. He never spoke to anyone unless it was to a teacher, and that was only a very straightforward answer to a question pertaining to school. Girls were afraid of him – something about his eyes – and he had no friends. Though that didn’t seem to bother him at all. “Anyway, how come this guy is giving you problems?”

“He…cares.”

“How can you tell?”

“He won’t leave me alone. And…that was even after he caught me…”

Temari slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of a fortunately deserted street. “Hold it, kid. Do you mean you were cutting at school?” Of course, Temari knew about more or less all of Gaara’s problems. She was the closest thing he could get to a confidante. He sighed and looked out the window. He didn’t even have to answer; Temari already knew the answer anyway. A car pulled onto the street behind them and Temari pressed the gas pedal. They would be talking more when they got home.