Chapter 5
When Ino was younger she was forced to run track by her parents. She hated it, hated running and sweating but most of all hated being passed by Sakura in practices and matches so she forced herself to be better, to run faster, and she did. She beat Sakura in nearly every race and soon enough became the fastest high schooler in Konoha. But she still hated it and regretted ever starting it.
In this moment Ino Yamanaka had never been more grateful that her parents made her play that godforsaken sport.
Body moving on its own, she vaulted herself over to the panicking boy and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the edge just as his foot hit the air. She held him in a loose embrace, and he stood there, not returning it but not rejecting it either. After a moment she pulled back and let out a shaky chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.
“Hey, um, maybe let’s not do that, okay? I really would hate to see you die and all, and I can’t even imagine how your family would react.” She looked over at the boy and frowned again, hand falling back to her side as she considered him. After almost falling to their death she would expect someone to be freaking out, crying, singing her praises for saving their life-
Well, she expected the first two. The third should happen but, she mused, it wasn’t a perfect world after all.
But instead the boy looked... empty. Not disappointed, which she also would’ve expected from a suicidal person (which, after hearing what happened from Shikamaru, she wouldn’t have ruled out to be honest). He just seemed emotionless, as if none of this had even happened. She tapped her foot on the ground, trying to think of a good thing to say next when his voice broke the silence.
“Thank you.” He murmured, not quite looking at her.
She smiled and cupped her hand around her ear. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
Gaara flushed, looking down at the ground in apparent frustration before taking a deep breath. “Thank you.” He said louder this time, nose wrinkling.
Ino smiled wider and nodded. This kid really was cute. Looking at him she realized she had to look slightly down, and wow, Sasuke was right, he was even shorter than Naruto. She didn’t see how he could be dangerous to anyone but himself really.
“Sorry about that earlier. Why don’t we have a better introduction?” Gaara looked up at her, clearly confused. She sighed before continuing. “Hi, my name’s Ino Yamanaka. What’s your’s?”
Gaara’s eyes widened slightly in understanding before nodding. “Gaara no Subaku.”
Ino felt her heart squeeze in happiness. Maybe she had gotten through to him somewhat. “Hey, Gaara, why don’t you hang out with me and my friends? I just lost some lame old ones and I could use a cool new one.”