A – Allow

"I won't allow it."

"Why not, 'ttebayo?"

"I don't need to explain myself."

Naruto sighed, realizing that there might be no way of convincing Gaara to allow him to give the redhead a sponge bath. The poor Kazekage was wounded and bedridden in Konohagakure's hospital. How he got here was a long story, and one that Naruto would rather not remember for the time being, seeing as how it had been his own fault. Well, it was mostly Kyuubi's fault, but it hardly mattered. The point was this: Naruto felt awful about it, and wanted to do everything in his power to help his friend get well again. And if that included wetting a cloth and washing the other teen by hand, then that's what he was prepared to do.

"You'll need one sometime. And when you do, wouldn't you rather I did it than some strange nurse you don't know?" the blonde coaxed.

"On the contrary, I would rather have a stranger do it." Gaara grumbled as he crossed his arms and stared out the window.

Naruto pouted. "Why? What's wrong with me doing it?"

At this, the Kazekage had nothing to say. He couldn't tell Naruto why. It was a bit personal, as well as embarrassing. The latter was an emotion Gaara wasn't used to, and it made him uncomfortable. Even worse, his discomfort would increase tenfold if he allowed Naruto to wash him. Admittedly, Gaara would like to be bathed to get rid of the sweat and remnants of medicine and blood on his skin, but he couldn't stand the thought of Naruto doing this for him.

"Come on, Gaara… let me do it. Please. I feel bad for what happened, and I want to make it up to you."

"I already forgive you, so there is no need," the other replied. "Now leave me be."

Naruto grunted in protest. He didn't like being dismissed like that. Indignantly, he tilted his chin upward and said, "No. I'm not leaving until you let me do it."

"Then you'll be here until I check out, because I'm never going to allow it."

The blonde smirked. "That's what you think," he drawled slyly.

There was a silence after this in which the two boys stared at one another. Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Are you ever going to let up?"

"Nope."

"You want to make things up to me that badly?"

"Yup."

Gaara shook his head slowly with closed eyes. He was constantly floored by Naruto's behavior. With a lengthy sigh, he opened his eyes and gave in. "Fine. I'll allow it, but solely because you are relentless."

The redhead had a sinking feeling that Naruto would have eventually let it go, but he wasn't as patient as he seemed. He had no time for the blonde's antics.

Grinning widely, Naruto reached over and dipped a washcloth in the water basin beside Gaara's bed. The cool water surrounded his hand, making Naruto wince. Will this be too cold for Gaara? It would have been warmer if the stubborn Sand leader had agreed to this earlier.

Ringing it out, the blonde brought it to his friend's pale flesh. He started at the redhead's arm and worked his way upwards, his fingers scrubbing gently through the cloth. When he got to Gaara's shoulder, he didn't notice the way the redhead looked away and flushed minutely, or the way that he resisted flinching or pulling away from Naruto's grasp.

Naruto tugged on Gaara's hospital garments until they came undone. He then pushed Gaara forward as he dunk the cloth back into the basin, rung it out, and returned it to Gaara with a swipe over his shoulder blades. He mopped up the back of the Kazekage's neck and trailed down his spine.

Gaara tensed and shivered, and not only from the coolness of the water. No, there was more to it, something that went beyond being physically touched in such an intimate manner. It had something to do with the person touching him. He really didn't want to linger on such a thought, however.

Humming to himself, Naruto stopped halfway down Gaara's thin back to dip the washcloth back into the basin. Now, he hadn't sensed anything amiss until he traveled lower, down to the small of Gaara's back, near his tailbone.

It was then that the redhead bit back a small squeak, despite his best efforts not to allow the sound to escape his throat.

Naruto paused. "Are you okay, Gaara?"

Goosebumps rose on his skin. "I'm fine," he replied lowly.

Shrugging, Naruto moved on to Gaara's other arm following another rinse in the bowl of water. He was careful around the bandages and splint there. He didn't want to hurt his friend in the slightest, especially since it was him that hurt the redhead in the first place.

Gaara leant back onto his pillow and watched Naruto carefully this time. The blonde seemed to be concentrating heavily on his task, making sure he washed Gaara properly. Gaara softened his facial features. Maybe this wasn't so bad, after all; it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as he thought it would be, and Naruto appeared to be oblivious to most of the redhead's discomfort, so he wasn't suspicious. Gaara was glad for this, because he wasn't ready to admit to the blonde the feelings that have been growing inside him for the other.

With another rise, Naruto trailed across Gaara's collar bone and up his neck. He then moved down the Kazekage's chest, pretending not to notice the perked nubs there. He knew the water was cold, so it was only natural that such a thing would happen, right? So he moved on, being careful to rinse often and clean gently over Gaara's stomach.

There was a strange feeling pooling within the redhead, and he steadily began to wonder what it was and if it would fade soon. He also wondered if Naruto was going to go as far as washing his legs, or worse, the place between them. He was wearing underwear, thank God, but he wasn't so sure what would happen if Naruto touched his thigh. And he really wasn't sure what would happen if the blonde was daring enough to wash between his legs, even if that was a spot that probably needed the most cleaning on a regular basis. Already the strange feeling was building, and he had not an inkling what it meant, so that made it automatically dangerous. Gaara didn't want to tempt the feeling further.

After a few seconds, Gaara realized that Naruto was actually about to go so far. His tanned hand was hovering above the hospital sheets, as if he wasn't sure that he would pull them off.

Gaara froze and caught Naruto's wrist with his good arm. The other wasn't in very good shape, which is why Naruto had been careful with it. "That's enough," he said tightly, "I'm clean."

"But what about –" the other tried to say as he pulled at Gaara's grip.

"It's fine, really."

"But Gaara, I need to finish bathing –"

"No, you don't," the redhead retorted, "Because that I truly won't allow."

"Oi, it's not like I'm going to be inappropriate or something! I promise." He paused. "I just… want to make sure you're taken care of, that's all," the blonde responded a bit sheepishly, his wrist still stuck between Gaara's fingers.

It was difficult for Gaara to argue with Naruto, seeing as how he couldn't express his reasons why. He knew Naruto's intention was wholesome, and that he wasn't half the pervert that he made himself out to be (at least not when it came to men), but that somehow didn't help change Gaara's mind.

"I can finish on my own," he said. He didn't have any other reasons to give other than this, so he hoped it was enough for Naruto to stop.

The blonde sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. You're one of those privacy freaks, aren't you? I should've known, I guess, since you always had so much protection around you from your sand." He stood as Gaara released his hand. He dumped the washcloth in the basin and went to leave. "I'll leave you to it, then. See ya later, dattebayo."

Gaara suddenly felt as if he made a huge mistake. He didn't know why that was, although Naruto's attitude could have something to do with it. He sighed to himself and glanced over at the cloth drifting through the room-temperature water. Now, it seemed, what eh couldn't really allow was Naruto walking out on him so downhearted.

Against his better judgment, he called the blonde back just as he opened the door on the far side of the hospital ward. "Naruto."

The other turned around. "Yeah?"

Reluctantly, the redhead murmured, "Come back and finished what you started. I suppose I can't do it on my own after all."

Upon hearing this, Naruto grinned widely once more and came bouncing back to Gaara's bedside. He knew it. His friend did need his help.

Dammit, what have I gotten myself into? Gaara wondered.

A/N: So I made a poll not too long ago. It had the title, 'If I do an alphabet-themed collection of drabbles, what pairing/category should I do it for?' There were 52 choices, but only about seven were picked. Getting restless and bored, I cut it off and chose four out of those seven. Oddly, all the choices we either vague or gay, so the four I picked out were MelloXNear (Death Note gayness), AllenXLavi (D. Gray-Man gayness), NaruGaa (Naruto gayness), and SatoDai (D. N. Angel gayness).

I already picked out what each letter will be for all of the pairings, which makes 104 planned drabbles that I have to write. No pressure, eh?