Two Oblivious Guys In A Tree

It was what one would call unusual for Gaara to feel anything remotely positive for any living being.

Other than cats. Cats are wonderful.

But he saw a confused boy walking down the streets of Suna, and he knew as soon as he saw his kind face and warm eyes that he wanted to be friends.

Alas, Gaara didn't do anything about it, because not even the kindest boy in the world would want to be friends with a monstrosity such as he.

It was the unkind truth of the world.

So the boys never did speak as friends.

Not at first, anyways.

--

Izuku didn't remember how he got there.

He knew who he was, that he went to UA, was attacked during hero training, taken into a portal, probably Kurogiri, then laying on a sand dune in the middle of nowhere.

He did find a city, but it was small enough to be called a town. He could clearly feel someone watching him, and it was a boy, around Izuku's age, with fluffy red hair, black marks around his eyes, a scar in the symbol for love on his forehead, and cold aqua eyes.

He smiled slightly, and hurried on, face contorted in panic.

How was he supposed to get home?

--

Gaara saw the kind boy smile at him.

A smile, albeit a small and stressed one, just for him. For someone to even glance at a monster like him would cause them to rush away, worried for their lives.

He could tell the boy was hurrying away from Gaara, but not because he was the monster that he was.

The green haired boy was looking for something, getting more and more panicked as time went on.

Though, should he try and pursue the lost boy?

He attempted to follow, maybe see what he was looking for, but he'd turned.

"Gosh darn it," Gaara muttered. He should have known. Even though he was a stranger, the small act of betrayal hurt.

--

Izuku had turned a corner when he realized the redhead was staring at him, and with the weight of his nerves pressing down on his heart and mind, he couldn't bear something else blocking any rational thoughts.

But he frowned when he realized the bitter looking boy had seemed like he wanted to say something.

Izuku grit his teeth and took a deep breath, willing his panic to go away.

It was shoved into the back of his head.

He decided to find the red haired boy, and calmly walked out of the alleyway.

He concentrated on not accidentally tripping, falling, and dying as he slowly walked to the retreating figure of the bitter looking redhead.

Izuku sped up, and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

He saw him turn around quickly, eyes like fire and ice and sand sand swirling around him.

The redhead calmed when he saw that it was merely Izuku standing there, not a killer.

Izuku smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"This might sound strange but do you know where and when this is? I don't think I'm where I'm supposed to be and to be honest I might be hallucinating so I'm sorry but I do need to know where I am and I'm sorry to bother you but I-"

"Sunakagure," the red haired boy answered blankly. "November 23, 2134."

Izuku grinned.

"Thank you-" he paused. "What's your name?"

--

Gaara blinked when he heard the soft boy asking for his name. Why would a ray of sunlight and joy want a monster's name?

"Gaara." He internally slapped himself. "What's yours?" Good gosh, Gaara hasn't spoken to anyone new in years.

"Izuku Midoriya!" said the boy. "But you can call me Deku! All my friends do! And enemies, actually- actually everyone calls me Deku."

Gaara almost smirked at Deku's nervous rambling.

"Deku," he repeated. It rolled off his tongue, in a somewhat unpleasant way. "No offense-" when has Gaara ever said no offense?- "but doesn't that mean useless?"

Gaara could tell Izuku's face got red.

"Well, my childhood best friend gave me that name- but then another friend said it sounded like Dekiru, which means you can do it, so it's motivating, I guess?" The green haired boy looked embarrassed.

"You looked lost," Gaara decided to say. "Are you new?"

Izuku cringed internally. What was he supposed to say?

"Yeah, I'm new here," was all he said. "I don't exactly have a place to stay though." Izuku by no means wanted to hint at anything.

"Where did you come frome?" Gaara asked.

"Musutafu, Japan," he responded. The redhead looked confused.

"Oh."

--

Izuku blushed, realizing he'd never heard of Sunakagure, and that Gaara probably never heard of Musutafu.

"Well, you've probably never heard of it, but to be honest I've never heard of 'Sunakagure' either, so this is really awkward-"

"It's- it's fine."

Gaara thought a moment. He never had heard of Musutafu, or Japan for that matter. And he did want to see Deku again. Suna was a small place, but it was easy to lose someone.

"You said you didn't have a place to say," Gaara murmured. Holy crud, his mouth was disobeying him. He looked up at Deku. "You can stay at my place for a bit."

Izuku looked somewhat shocked.

"Apologies, was I out of place?" When has Gaara ever apologized for anything- actually, nevermind, he never cared enough to apologize.

Deku shook his head. "No, I was just- surprised, I suppose." He smiled brightly. It hurt Gaara's eyes. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to!"

Gaara nodded. "Then follow me, I'll take you to my house."

--

It was a very large house.

Izuku blinked in surprise, but followed.

"Being the son of the Kazekage has it's perks," Gaara said. Must've noticed his subtle shock, then.

Izuku noted that, then realized-

"What in the heck is a Kazekage?"

Gaara looked at him like he was stupid.

"The leader of the village." Izuku nodded like he knew what the heck was happening, even though he didn't.

"Right." A pause. "This is a village?"

"Get the fridge inside," Gaara merely said, dragging him by the wrist through the door. Izuku stared at his hand on his arm and hoLY COW WERE THEY KINDA HOLDING HANDS-

Gaara quickly let go, holding his hand to his side in a fist.

"I apologise," he said.

Izuku shook his head, smiling nervously.

"It's fine."

--

"It's fine," said Izuku.

Gaara frowned slightly, without knowing it.

"Is something wrong?" He shook his head, wondering why such a kind boy would care about him.

"Why would it be fine?" Why in the hECK WAS HE TALKING SHUT UP-

Izuku tilted his head to the side.

"You dragged me into a- into a house. I won't get of-offended or anything." He was waving his hands in front of him.

"But-" Gaara thought. Did he know? Why wouldn't he know, he didn't even know what a Kazekage was.

"I'd like to tell you something," Gaara said instead of, "bUt I'm A sAnD rAcCoOn ThInG lMaOoO."

"What, you're gay?" Izuku guessed. Gaara blinked. "I-it's fine if you're gay Gaara, I don't- I don't care."

"What? No, I was gonna say-"

"OTO-CHAN! OMG DID YOU BRING A BOY HOME DAMN IT I OWE KANKURO TEN BUCKS-"

Gaara glared at his overly energetic older sister, Temari.

"I-I'M SORRY MISS," yelled Deku, bowing comically. "I HAD NOWHERE TO GO SO GAARA-SENPAI SAID I COULD STAY AT HIS HOUSE FOR A BIT-"

"Senpai?" asked Temari with a smirk.

Gaara glared at her. She was unfazed.

"Well, as long as you two don't end up together, I won't owe Kankuro ten bucks." Izuku's face turned bright pink and he covered his it with his hands.

"WITH UTMOST RESPECT, I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND." He was lying. Gaara could tell. His heart was racing, based off of the hecking millions of grains of sand that was stuck on him.

Though, he was flustered enough that he could have said "the sky is blue" and it would have seemed like he was lying.

"Break up and date my dear brother," Temari commanded.

"Temari." She looked at Gaara, and decided to back off.

"Sorry Oto-chan." And she was gone.

"I. . . apologize for her rambunctious behavior." Izuku smiled. It made Gaara's heart flutter.

"It's okay, she reminds me of my b-best friend." He scratched the back of his head. "What were you going to tell me? I felt the need to quote South Park, so-sorry for interrupting."

Gaara nodded. South Park was an art and a miracle of intense pain and joy.

"It's okay, I was going to say-" what would he say? Would Deku say he was a monster? A creature of death and despair? What would his reaction be?- "I'm a jinchuriki of Shukaku the sand demon." He glanced up at Izuku's reaction. Curse his oversharing habit.

"T-to be completely ho-honest, I don't have t-the foggiest what that- what that means." He paused. "It sounds important, though."

Gaara sighed.

"Good." He turned to lead Deku to where he'd be staying. Whispering, he said, "then you can't call me a monster."

--

"What?" Izuku followed him. "Did you say something?"

Gaara shook his head and continued to walk somewhere.

"Well, where are- are we going?"

"Where you'll be staying," he responded. Izuku nodded, even though Gaara couldn't see it. He felt his face turn bright red, though he didn't know why.

Eventually (gosh that house was big-), they made it to a room.

Gaara leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed. The room was neat, with a weird pumpkin bucket laying in the corner. Izuku payed it no mind.

Gaara walked into the room and picked up the container thingy, and slung it across his back. The thing looked like a potato, kind of.

"It's a gourd," Gaara explained. "It keeps sand inside it." Izuku nodded.

"I th-thought it was a potato," he said stupidly. He saw Gaara's lips twitch up, and felt his face get hot. He decided it was from embarrassment.

"Right, well," oh gosh Gaara thought he was an idiot darn it- "you'll sleep here, this is technically my room but I can't sleep or else I'll kill everyone so that's nice-"

Izuku saw the redhead stiffen and glance at him.

"I'm g-going to assume you didn't- didn't mean to say that?"

Gaara nodded and bit his bottom lip. Izuku noted the pain in his eyes. It broke his heart slightly. But his habit got the better of him.

"You mentioned that you were a jinchuriki, and although I have no clue what that means, it has something to do with a demon called Shukaku, which might have something to do with your sand quirk- but why would a demon have anything to do with a quirk? Unless it's like Tokoyami, but Dark Shadow is a quirk herself and doesn't have any other sort of power-"

"What are you talking about?" ask Gaara monotonously. Izuku jumped and yelped.

"I'm sorry- analyzing quirks is my habit!"

"What in the flying fridge is a quirk?"

Izuku cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean? A quirk, been in humanity since 2014, everyone has one." Izuku paused. "Most of the population has one."

Gaara glared at him.

"Don't tease me, what is a quirk."

--

Gaara knew he wasn't lying, or rather, he believed it was true.

Nobody had a "quirk."

And Deku hadn't responded yet.

Gaara sighed.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

Wow. In the whole time Gaara's lived, nobody has ever spoken to him like that.

Definitely out of fear.

Which means that the green haired boy wasn't afraid of a monster like him.

He wasn't afraid.

And Gaara was confused as fudge.

Gaara watched the color drain from Deku's face.

"What if- no, Kurogiri isn't that powerful- what if he was? What if- what even happened, anyways? How did I find him in the first place? Why don't I remember? How am I going to get home anyways? Oh god Kacchan may be a horrible person but he's going to kill me for worrying him oh god-"

"Uhm- Deku?"

Deku popped up, his face lacking any color.

"NOTHING!" Gaara raised his eyebrows, or lack thereof.

"What are you talking about?" he asked again.

"I have no clue how I got here," Deku admitted. "Or how to get home."

Gaara sighed.

Then he walked to and sat on the bed. Deku followed.

They were sitting on the bed together, and Gaara realized how dark it was, and glanced at a clock, which said 9:30.

Gaara randomly shoved his hand out beside him, right in front of Deku.

He jumped and fell on his back on the bed.

The corners of Gaara's mouth raised slightly.

"Now get to sleep because it's almost ten."

"I go to s-sleep at like eleven," Deku protested, but got under the blankets and wrapped his arms around the pillow, hugging it.

"Why are you hugging a pillow?" Gaara asked.

"Force if habit."

"Why is it a habit?"

"I was lonely as hill since I was four, till fourteen." He laughed bitterly. "Ten years of habit don't go away easily."

"Wow." Gaara looked into Deku's eyes, and saw a mirroring loneliness. "I've been lonely since I was six. . . Nine years." Gaara saw Deku raise his eyebrows in confusion. "You win."

The redhead felt warm fuzzies when he heard Deku laugh.

He missed having friends.

He layed on the bed and they talked and laughed and shared random stories.

And then Gaara and Deku fell asleep.

. . . oH SHIT-