Hey guys. :) Some notes before we start:
i. For this fanfic, I made Neji and Hinata brother and sister. They are both heirs, but Neji is the one who stays in the news the most.
ii. I would like to feature as much of the Naruto cast in here as I can. So if you have a favorite character that wasn't in the summary, chances are they'll play a part in the story later on anyway. There won't be any character bashing.
iii. Some characters might be ooc. I'm sorry.
iv. I live in America and don't really speak any japanese, so there really won't be any in this story. Sorry again.
v. The rating will go up.
That's about all. Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to review if you like it. :)
Sleeping With Strangers
Chapter One
Apartment 3-E was eerily quiet when Lee stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind him, then setting his keys down on the table by the door.
Then again, Gaara's apartment was always eerily quite. Lee fumbled around for the light switch, then turned it on. He stepped father into the apartment, nearly tripping over a large pile of clothes, one of many that littered the apartment floor. The wall on Lee's left had two windows in it, both shades drawn. The wall on his right had a extremely cluttered mahogany desk. Above the desk was a landscape portrait that had been done by a mutual friend of theirs, Sai, and given to Gaara as a gift. In front of him was a cream-colored couch with a blanket over it, and a pile of books and papers on the floor in front of it. They seemed to be spilling off of the wooden coffee table, which separated the couch and the cabinet the TV was on top of. To the TV's left was a bookshelf the was equally as messy as the rest of the room, and to the right was a pile of CDs in front of a CD rack that Lee had given Gaara about a year ago. Lee looked over the room and sighed.
"Gaara? It is I, Lee! I have come from the pharmacy!" He called, navigating through the mess on the floor. What with all of the boxes, clothing piles, books and various other items, any normal person would have already tripped and been on the floor by now. Lee however, had experience, and he managed to make it to the doorway across the room without falling.
The walls of the narrow hallway were the color of sand, just like the rest of the apartment. It ran horizontally behind the living room, with the doorway to the kitchen/dining room on one end and the bathroom on the other, with the door to Gaara's room somewhere in between. Thankfully, the hallway wasn't as cluttered as the living room, with only a stray half-empty box of tissues lying on it's side about halfway down. Lee kicked it out of the way and continued down the hall. Upon reaching Gaara's room, he knocked softly before opening the door.
"Gaara?" He said again, but said boy wasn't in his room, either. An air conditioner hummed away nosily across the room. Gaara's bed was unmade, with one of his sheets half on the floor and a corner of his mattress exposed. Opposite his bed was a dresser with a mirror above it, and various trinkets on top of it. On the right side of his bed was a small table with a digital clock on it, blinking 7:42pm in red at him. There was clothing on the floor, as well as books and papers, but not as much as the living room had. Lee closed the door behind him and continued down the hall.
The bathroom door was closed, and Lee knocked again. "Gaara? It is Lee." There was no answer.
Lee sighed again, turned the doorknob, and pushed the door open.
The bathtub was to the right of the door so Lee didn't notice him at first. But when he did, he almost passed out.
The bathtub was full to the brim with water. Gaara was submerged, only a small tuft of his red hair breaking the surface of the water. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted. There were no bubbles rising the the top, so Lee could tell he wasn't breathing. The twenty-one year old looked frighteningly pale and fragile underneath the water.
"Gaara!" The white paper bag he was holding dropped to the floor as he rushed over to the tub, dropping heavily to his knees but ignoring the pain. He rolled up the sleeves of his green hoodie then plunged his hands into the cold water. His fingers slid against Gaara's skin and under his body before he got a good hold on him and lifted him out of the water. Immediately the redhead started coughing, sputtering out water from his throat as Lee set him down on his lap. Blue-green eyes snapped open as the male grabbed onto Lee's arm tightly, the first body part he could reach. He looked like he wanted to speak but couldn't because of all the water his body was trying to force out. Lee pulled his boyfriend closer to him, wrapping his arms around him in an embrace.
"Shh..." He kissed Gaara's forehead as he continued to expectorate. "It's okay. I'm here."
"Gaara, I am begging you, PLEASE tell me what happened!"
"I told you. I fell asleep." Gaara responded emotionlessly, opening the cabinets in the kitchen, seemingly looking for something. He refrained from rolling his eyes at Lee, who was sitting on one of the chairs in front of the table.
After he had manage to stop coughing in the bathroom, Lee had carried Gaara to his bedroom where he made sure the redhead was alright before allowing him to dress himself in pajama pants and a t-shirt.
"But Gaara--"
"Did you get my medicine?" The redhead interrupted.
"Yes, but--" Gaara glared at his green-clad boyfriend, who attempted to glare back for half a second before sighed and getting up. He retrieved the white bag he had dropped in the door way of the bathroom, then returned to the kitchen. "Gaara, people do not just fall asleep in the bathtub--"
"I did. I hadn't slept for three days. I told you, Lee, I didn't even know I was going to. I only closed my eyes for a second."
The black-haired male narrowed his eyes as he sat back down. For once, he was quiet.
Gaara sighed and returned to digging around in the cabinet again. "Listen, I only have instant noodles to eat. I haven't gotten around to going shopping yet. Is that okay?" There was no reply. Gaara slammed the instant noodles down on the counter and whirled around angrily. "Damn it, Lee! You think I did it on purpose, don't you?"
Lee's tone was even. "I did not say that."
"But you were thinking it! You think I'm trying to kill myself!"
"Again." Lee snapped.
Gaara stared. Then lowered his head. "Again." He muttered. Turning away from Lee, he went over to the sink and turned on the water. He glared at the water for a few seconds before starting to wash the massive pile of dishes. He heard the scrape of Lee's chair against the linoleum floor as the dark-haired man got up and came up behind him. Strong arms wrapped around his waist.
"I don't like seeing you hurt." Lee murmured in his ear. Gaara briefly closed his eyes.
"I... I know. Okay."
They were both silent for a while, and the only sound was that of the dishes clanking together and the water running. Lee suspected that if he hadn't been there, the dishes wouldn't be getting washed at all.
"Lee?" Gaara spoke up, pausing in his chore for a second.
"Hmm?"
"I--I wasn't with you. The first time I tried."
"I know, Gaara."
Gaara had continued to wash the dishes while Lee heated up the instant noodles in the microwave. A comment that went along the lines of 'if I wanted instant noodles, I would have gone to Naruto's' earned him a wet dishrag in the face. They had gone into the living room after that, and Gaara had pushed a pile of clutter off of the couch to make room for Lee. They had both settled onto the couch, under the blanket, with a bowl full of noodles each. Gaara had turned on the TV, then leaned into Lee.
"And in celebrity news, celebrity heir Neji Hyuuga has ended his two-month relationship with rock star Itachi Uchiha. Sources say the split was due to recent sightings of Itachi with Deidara Takahasi, a little-know artist."
"Can't say I didn't see that coming." Gaara muttered, snuggling into Lee. A shot of Neji on Itachi's arm filled the screen from a few weeks prior at some awards ceremony. Neji was wearing black jeans and a white designer cashmere sweater, smiling sunnily with his long dark brown hair being blown back by the wind, looking every bit the part of the young, beautiful heir. Itachi, in contrast, wore leather pants with chains hanging down from them, and a black wifebeater. His nails were painted dark purple and there were various tattoos running up and down his bare arms.
"We managed to get in touch with Neji's younger sister, who told us that the break-up had nothing to due with the artist, and that the relationship 'just wasn't working out'. Neither Neji, Itachi, or the other members of Akatsuki were available for comment. Now, on to sports."
"Poor Neji." Lee sighed, wrapping an arm around Gaara and setting his now-empty bowl of noodles on top of a stack of books on the coffee table. Gaara shrugged noncommittally and set his half full bowl of noodles next to Lee's. Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Come on, He is your best friend." Lee said. "And are you going to eat the rest of that?"
"He's your ex-boyfriend." Gaara shot back. "And no." Lee frowned. It looked like Gaara wasn't eating much again. Recalling their earlier exchange, he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead he leaned over and kissed Gaara, who gladly returned it.
Soon they were making out fully, with Gaara moaning into Lee's mouth and tugging at his boyfriend's green hoodie, urging him to take it off. With a final lick to Gaara's lips, Lee sat back and pulled it off, along with the green t-shirt he had been wearing under it. He pushed Gaara down against the sofa, then starting trailing hot kisses down the redhead's neck and along his collarbone. Gaara sighed in pleasure, wrapping his arms around Lee's neck.
Just as Lee was about to slide a hand down Gaara's pants, the doorbell rang. The dark haired male groaned as he sat up, only to be glared at by his lover.
"Don't get it."
"It is almost ten at night, it might be important." Lee said, shaking his head a bit to pull himself together. Gaara very nearly pouted, but instead settled for glaring a bit harder as he swung his legs over the edge of the couch and got up. He expertly navigated his way over to the door, unlocked it, then nearly threw it open. "What do you wa--"
He cut himself off. Neji was standing there, wearing boxers and a t-shirt, and looking more like a heartbroken teenager than the beautiful heir he had been on the TV. There were tears in his eyes and his normally immaculate hair was pulled up into a messy bun. The scene would have looked much more dramatic if there weren't two bodyguards standing stiffly behind him.
"I broke up with Itachi." Neji sobbed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Can I come in?"
Gaara sighed, then moved to let him in. "The bodyguards stay in the hall."