Hugs Are Awkward
What are the consequences of a hug? Especially when the person hugged is Gaara? And the hugger happens to be Naruto? And what the hell does Sasuke have to do with anything?!
--
"Naruto?" Naruto buried his face deeper in Gaara's vest, wrapping his arms tighter around Gaara. "Mm, Gaara don't move, just don't move…"
Gaara complied, staying stock still. He analyzed the situation; it was quite odd in fact. His mind combed over the prior events, trying to find out what exactly had set off such behavior from Naruto.
/flashback/
"And your business here in Sunagakure no Sato is?"
"I have come to- "A guard rushed in, interrupting the man's response. "Kazekage-sama, there is a visitor here to see you. He claims he is from the Leaf."
Gaara gave the man one final cold look and turned in his chair to face the guard. "And? Does that give you reason to rush in here and interrupt my work as your Kazekage?"
The guard trembled; it was the most he had ever heard the leader of Suna speak. Today was certainly not one of his good days. "He- he said that you would want to see him, Kazekage-sama."
"Who?" It didn't matter who had come to see him, no one was more important than Sunagakure and his duties as its Kazekage. Whoever it is I will make sure to kill in the slowest and most excruciating way possible.
No. As he was supposed to be more "civilized" now that Shukaku had been removed, he would not do that. It would do no good for him whatsoever; there would be a mess to clean up, political ties to repair, and the people of Suna to reassure of his sanity.
No, it would not do. Instead, he would first listen to whatever the Leaf nin had to say and then find an appropriate room; let's say a prison cell, for him to wait in while Gaara tended to his other duties as the Kazekage.
The political excuse? The Leaf nin was compromising the safety of Sunagakure therefore he had to be removed to another location, where he would have to patiently wait until the all so important duties of the Kazekage were finished and the Kazekage could tend to the problems of the Leaf.
Gaara had no intention of helping Konohagakure with anything. It was true that they were the reason as to why he was still alive, and in the position of Kazekage, but it had to be understood that his own village, Suna was in a spot of economical trouble and all of his attention had to be directed to the rebuilding of the economy and of Suna itself.
The guard appeared to still be thinking. It angered Gaara. No one could be that slow to answer unless they were dense, and therefore not fit to serve Suna and the Kazekage. "Well?" If anyone that knew Gaara well, which was next to no one, was in the room at that moment they would hear the tinge of annoyance in his voice and feel the killing intent radiating off of him.
The guard, although not knowing Gaara all too well, managed to sense some of the killing intent directed at him and nervously took a couple of steps back. Gaara's face was as emotionless as ever, and his voice was flat and cool, as always, and yet the guard felt that his life, or at least his job, was very possibly on the line.
Gaara felt his eyebrow begin to twitch and mentally stopped it before the guard noticed, thankful for a moment that the guard was slow. The other man in the room looked up from where he had been staring at a particularly interesting spot on the floor throughout this entire exchange and glanced at the Kazekage and then at the guard and back at the Kazekage.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gaara noticed the man's movements. Appearing to still be staring intently at the guard, Gaara also watched the man, who appeared to flinch when looking at Gaara once again. Why? He mentally wondered. His murderous gaze wasn't directed at the man, so why should he flinch? It angered Gaara even more than the slow guard.
"And you, what are you still doing here?" He turned on the man, who could swear that the room temperature dropped a few degrees. The man, against his better judgment, tried "M-my lord, my business in Su-Sunagakure?" If looks could kill, the man would have been butchered in that moment.
"What about it? You are nothing but a con artist and will gladly take the last of my people's money from them." Gaara stated quite coldly. The man whimpered slightly and backed up until he was standing beside the guard by the door.
"Ka-Kazekage-sama? I a-assure you that my intentions in S-Suna are n-nothing but honest." The guard glanced at him, thankful that Gaara's rage was now directed away from him, if only for a moment. At the same time though, he felt sorry for the man, be he a criminal or not.
I have heard of his 'business' from the other villages. How dare he try to pull the same stunt here? On me? On my people? Gaara felt his eyebrow twitch yet again, but did nothing to stop it this time. He had enough of dealing with this criminal.
"You there, what is your name?" It was now the guard's turn to whimper. Gaara's full attention on him was almost painful to a degree. He, along with the man now hiding behind him, could agree that the temperature of the room had definitely dropped, despite Gaara's seemingly emotionless face and tone.
"T-Tanaka Jurou, Kazekage-sama." (A/N Jurou means 'tenth son') The guard struggled to keep his voice level. All of a sudden, the tension in the room dissipated. Jurou and the man, confused, wondered at the sudden mood change of the Kazekage.
Perhaps he truly was insane? No, the Kazekage loved his people and the village, although he'd never show it. He worked hard for them and someone like that couldn't possibly be as insane as the rumors claimed. Proudly, Jurou thought of how Gaara had been there to pick up the pieces of the broken city and even now was working to fix the economy. A very slight movement from the Kazekage brought him back to the present.
"The tenth?" The Kazekage did not have to always make sense or elaborate on his words, Gaara was thankful for that. It was one of the few perks of the position. "Hai, Kazekage-sama!" Jurou stood straighter as Gaara's gaze wandered over the sparse furnishings of his office before finally landing upon him again.
"The youngest as well?" Gaara was curious. Here was a slow man with a relatively low paying job and an apparent lack of good education, but he had a family. He had siblings. He had grown up…loved.
He himself had Kankouru and Temari but they had never felt like family. When he was smaller, they had avoided him. He had grown up with his nurses for company, the majority of which hated him, and the many assassins that came nightly.
They may be my family by blood, but in reality I am no brother of theirs. Even now that Shukaku was gone, they still feared him to some extent and no matter how hard they tried to hide it, Gaara could tell. He could smell the fear on them whenever they visited him.
This man, Tanaka Jurou, he had grown up with everything I had never had. He briefly wondered what it would be like to be him, to be loved.
"Hai, Kazekage-sama." Jurou wondered what the Kazekage was getting at. It was strange behavior for him and he had never even heard of Gaara behaving this way before. There was no doubt in his mind about one thing though; he definitely preferred this to Gaara's usual killing intent and iciness.
"Tanaka Jurou, you are now a Kitchens Guard." The job payed well, even more than Jurou's current job as a Door Guard, Gaara knew, and was more stable and safe. He didn't know why he was doing this; he had initially been in a bad mood today, after seeing the well known criminal Kobayashi Susumu posing as an honest business man.
Perhaps, it was his own secret desire for a family that had caused him to give the slow guard a job that would keep him safe. Not only would the job keep him safe, it would also most likely make him fat and slightly richer, therefore he would be happy and his family would as well. A large family, larger than twelve quite possibly. A family like Gaara never had.
No, it could not be that. He knew that his desire for a family, for acceptance, could never be. No, in fact, it must be because the man was a man of Suna, one of the people that had eagerly awaited my return after I was kidnapped by the Akatsuki.
"Kazekage-sama, you have my gratitude! I cannot wait to tell my mother, and my-"
"The visitor?" Gaara was slightly relieved that Tanaka Jurou had drawn him from his thoughts but didn't show it. Showing emotions was still difficult for Gaara and although he now felt at least some of those emotions that he never had, he honestly did not know how to express them. Or why he even should. Wasn't it good enough that at least now he could feel them?
It couldn't be good to think of such things as family and love, of things that cannot be, of things that could have been. No, thinking of such things led to distractions, which led to the death of him, which subsequently led to the fall of Suna. There must be no distractions. He was not ashamed in the least to have so rudely cut off the man.
Gaara controlled himself, bringing back his calm and cool composure fully, and banished all of the traitorous thoughts to the back of his head "Bring him. My day has already been wasted." Gaara could swear that the criminal, Kobayashi, had flinched yet again at the mere sound of his voice.
Jurou mentally shrugged. The Kazekage was a kind man, but of course he was not weak. Jurou believed that he would not show his true kindness for too long, so as not to be perceived as weak. He also couldn't believe his luck. To have enraged the Kazekage and then received a job promotion! It was unheard of! He couldn't wait to get off duty; he would have to tell his family. "Yes, Kazekage-sama!"
"Take the criminal as well. Death." Gaara would have personally killed the man however he had a visitor. No need to make a mess in his office just now.
Gaara sat down in his chair. He had not even realized he had stood up but apparently he had. Who exactly could this Leaf nin be? He hated to admit it but he was curious and Gaara was never, ever curious. But it was because of this very Leaf nin that he had promoted Tanaka Jurou, wondered about family and love, and decided to just execute the damn criminal instead of a mere stay in prison.
The nin better have a good reason. Gaara had gone through too many moods for his own liking and did not want to be angered again. If he was, he'd probably just kill the shinobi and have a political pile of shit to deal with after. Damn politics. Damn conscience.
Oh yes, how could he not have noticed developing that damn voice of reason? After Shukaku had left, that freakin' voice took his place instead. He'd rather have been stuck with the demon he knew. At least Shukaku had been relatively easy to understand. Kill this, kill that, what do you need them for anyway?
He was unaccustomed to such ranges of emotions, they tired him out. Gaara sighed and leaned back in his chair, the wooden framework digging into his shoulders.
The lack of sleep and the seemingly unending duties of a Kazekage were taking their toll on him. He shifted a bit before finally just slumping forward onto his desk, his muscles going slack. And there, in the solitude of the silent office, for the first time since he was a small child, he let his mask slip and a single tear fell gracefully from an aquamarine eye. It followed the arch of his cheekbones and disappeared past the curve of his chin. Family…
Footsteps. Gaara could hear two people coming up the flight of stairs two floors below his office. He reached out with his chakra, trying to see who his currently unknown visitor was.
One was the dull, grayish-blue chakra of Tanaka Jurou and was very faint. The other chakra was…bright orange and red? There was only one ninja Gaara knew that had chakra like that. Chakra like fire, like the sun.
He sat up and made sure that the one tear didn't leave a wet trail and collected himself. It felt good, to have just let go like that but it would not do. What was Uzumaki Naruto doing here? Gaara did not feel up to the ninja's usual noise and energy. He was tired; there was no doubt about it.
"Damn it" He muttered. Whenever Naruto was around he felt different. Honestly? He hated it. But Gaara supposed it was all a part of 'becoming more human,' as his sister had said. Damn humans.
It was also thanks to Naruto that Gaara had, oddly enough, largely improved his vocabulary. Who knew that swears could be so useful?
When Naruto was around he felt stronger than ever before but also weak, and exposed. He was not very fond of that emotion. In his opinion, it simply did not suit him to feel weak. Even worse, Naruto always seemed to know what sort of mood Gaara was in.
Although…Gaara forced his chakra to reach farther, and slightly deeper into Naruto instead of just harmlessly swirling around him. It appears that Naruto's mood is very much like my own.
Gaara growled, whatever, whoever, had made Naruto feel that way would pay. They would pay quite dearly indeed if Gaara had anything to do about it. His mood instantly brightened at the thought of a kill…
--
"Eh?" It tickled! Naruto squirmed while the guard, Jurou or whatever, stopped mid step to look at him. "Is something wrong?" Jurou's face formed into an expression of pure confusion.
"DAMN! STOP IT! THAT TICKLES!" He decided to add in a 'Believe it!' just in case Gaara could also hear him clearly from his office. "BELIEVE IT!"
"What Leaf nin-san? I swear I can't feel a thing!" Poor Jurou-baka, Naruto thought, he was pretty dense.
Tell me about it. Ah Kyuubi, the very last person I want to hear right now! Serves you right, idiot. How about a deal instead?
Are you purring?! And if I am? YOU HAVE NO FUCKIN RIGHT TO BE SO DAMN HAPPY!! Why not? Damn it; just leave me alone for this once. You baka, you're nothing without ME.
The damn fox was laughing at him. And in his own mind too. Did no respect exist in the world?
It was pretty obvious that Gaara was currently trying to discover the identity of his visitor and purpose. It was also embarrassingly obvious that Naruto had just lost an argument in his own mind. No doubt Gaara already knew it was just Naruto.
The tickling feeling sharply receded from his skin, the breath knocking out of him in the same instant. "DAMN IT GAARA! WAIT AND SEE YOUR VISITORS FOR YOURSELF LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO!" He made sure to put emphasis on the 'normal'.
Ha! No way that didn't strike a chord! Point for Uzumaki! Naruto's mood brightened slightly before plunging down even lower than before. He had just practically stabbed his friend in the back, figuratively. Naruto sighed; this was just not his week.
By now, Jurou was completely and utterly dumbfounded. The strikingly orange ninja from Konoha had been screaming, no wait, more like shrieking, at an empty space on the ceiling above him. Then, even stranger, he had quieted and scowled for what seemed like a full five minutes. They really should get going; the Kazekage did not like to be kept waiting.
The Konoha nin was weird, Jurou almost felt sorry for the Kazekage to have to deal with such a guy. He almost felt sorry for Konoha itself. Imagine dealing with such a guy on a daily basis. That would be nothing less than torture! He brought his thoughts back to the puzzling sight before him. He scratched his head and also stared up at that very empty and average looking spot.
Kazekage-sama might go into another fit of rage. We really should hurry. As the Konoha shinobi seemed to have no intention of moving, Jurou reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder and proceeded to drag him over onto the landing and up yet another flight of stairs. Jurou sighed; at least he had gotten promoted. That was just about the only good thing that had happened today. Just a little more to go…
'Damn.' Naruto muttered to himself. No doubt Gaara also had seen, more like felt, how he was feeling. He realized he was being dragged up the stairs by the guard and pouted, but did nothing to get out of the other man's grasp.
Honestly he didn't mind doing nothing for a while; as long as Jurou wasn't careless and he wouldn't bump his head or tumble all the way back down the stairs.
He had just gotten humiliated, as he saw it, by the fox. Yet again. And even worse, Kyuubi's behavior had caused him to explode at Gaara, who had done nothing. He sighed yet again.
--
Gaara sighed. It was strange to see Naruto unhappy. God be damned, it was freakin' unnatural to not see Naruto happy. He would have to find out the cause of this immediately.
It did not bother him in the least that he wanted to protect the orange clad ninja and to make him happy. After all, was it not only natural? Naruto had brought him back from the dead, he had unearthed the hidden feelings in Gaara, and despite everything they were so alike and yet still so different.
Gaara wanted to understand. That was it. His conscience pointed out otherwise. He willed it to shut up, already knowing that unlike Shukaku it wouldn't shut up even if the world went to hell. Damn conscience.
His conscience also told him that Naruto did not truly mean the "like normal people" comment, he was just taking out his frustration. Or anger. Most likely a mix of both. Perhaps it was right on that point. Perhaps.
He stood up and stood in front of his desk, thinking it would be better to greet Naruto that way. They were getting closer so he drew in his chakra even more until it clung to the sandstone walls of his inner office. In a few moments, Jurou would knock on the heavy doors of the Kazekage's office and they would come in. Then, he would find out what had happened to Naruto.
--
Tanaka-san had just knocked on the heavy doors leading to the Kazekage's office
Naruto sighed; his doom practically lay before him at this point. How many times can you sigh in one day Kit? Shut it. This was not good. He was here for mental health reasons and having an enraged Gaara at his back could only spell trouble. Even more trouble than he was already dragged into in Konoha.
Is that even possible…? Naruto considered. It was sorta hard to get into even more trouble than that. Suddenly, a memory of Gaara from the Chuunin exams filled his mind. Most likely thanks to Kyuubi's so called 'well-wishing'.
Oh well, I guess an early death isn't so bad. Especially if it was one of my friends. What kind of thinking is that? Impending doom thinking? Wrong, you're not even thinking. And hey, you're dealing with this ALONE. Nani?!
Jurou stopped just in front of the doors leading into the office and turned to the sulking orange ninja. "Eh," Naruto looked up at him."Eh, be nice to Kazekage-sama, okay?" The truth was that Jurou knew that the Kazekage had not been having the best of days and neither did he want to see the strange nin harmed for some inexplicable reason. If he could only be polite then maybe both the Konoha shinobi and his Kazekage would get through the remainder of the day okay. And in one piece of course. Naruto just shrugged and nodded "Okay."
The gaurd knocked on the heavy doors as Naruto finally got up from the floor where he had been lying and straightened himself up. Better get this over with then. Maybe if I'm lucky I could spend the rest of my visit (if I'm still alive) far far away. Preferably as far away from Gaara as possible. Naruto knew that the true reason he wanted to be far away from Gaara wasn't the fact that he was almost positive that Gaara could spit fire and would kill him sooner or later over some stupid thing he had done but also because lately whenever he thought of Gaara it felt as though a fire had been lit in the depths of his body. It was a strange warm, coilinng sensation and in all truth he was a bit frightened of it.