Title: Iris
Author: LadySable (LiveJournal)/StoryBard()
Pairings: Gaara and Naruto
Rating: T
Words: 2,624
WARNING: This will have heterosexual and homosexual relationships of both genders (M/M M/F F/F). If either offend you, this is not the story for you. Also, I'm always updated on what's happening in the manga, so if you don't read it online, there will be spoilers (Especially if you haven't read up to chapter 549).
Disclaimer: Gaara and Naruto are properties of Masashi Kishimoto. I do not make money from this fan made work.
Summary: AU/AR Gaara adopts a pet unlike any other.
Chapter 1: The Man in the Garbage Can
"And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am."
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
"Temari, why are you calling me at this time in the morning?"
"If I didn't call you now, would you have picked up? Or would you have just waited to figure out what I wanted from the answering machine?"
Silence filled the air.
"See! I bet you wouldn't have even picked up if it weren't for the fact that there might have been an accident that you needed to report!" He had thought it was work, which was why he had answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Jeez, Gaara, you're too introverted for your own good. Which is why I called."
"What is it now? Another one of your horrible ideas of setting me up with some random woman? Really Temari I need to go to work, I'm running late."
"No you're not. You always leave at seven. It's 6:45 right now. You should be happy that I care enough to wake up early in the morning to call you. I wouldn't do it for Kankuro."
"That's because Kankuro won't pick up. If you don't tell me what you called me for, I'm hanging up." The red haired man tapped his fingers against the kitchen counter.
"No! Don't hang up! Okay, here's the deal, you get a pet or I'll get one for you."
The tapping stopped, "A pet? Are you serious?"
"Yes, very serious."
"No. A pet is too much work. They have needs."
"Yup, and you'll have to supply those needs."
"No. You have to play with them, and give them attention or they'll get sick, and possibly die. Temari, seriously, you might as well call the pet abuse hotline right now because I don't have the time to give them the attention they need." He checked the time, ten more minutes.
"Gaara," Temari's voice went from coaxing to you're-going-to-do-this-or-else. "If you don't get a pet, I'll show that picture."
"Not the one-?"
"Yes, that one."
His sea-foam colored eyes widened. He weighed his options. A pet that would run away within a week of owning it, or not being taken seriously by his coworkers?
"Fine, I'll get a pet by - what's today? Monday? - I'll get it by Friday."
"Nope," she popped the word. "I want you to have a pet by tonight, or else I'm bringing over one tomorrow."
"Th-That's too soon. I have a deadline tomorrow that I need to focus on."
"So? Tonight, or I'll bring one of the puppies that my neighbor's dog had about a month ago."
"Tema-"
"Ciao!"
There was a soft curse as a click, then a buzz said the discussion was over.
A headache hammered within his skull. It wasn't enough that Temari had to decide that today, of all days, was the day that Gaara had to get a pet. No, it just wasn't enough. Instead, before he left his house, there had been a call about an accident that he needed to report and interview witnesses. He was never good at interviewing witnesses, especially when something traumatic happened.
When he had finally made it to work, he had a deadline looming over his shoulder. Before he could even get to his office, though, he was stopped in the hallway by a new rookie writer in his section. She was babbling about not being able to meet her deadline. He gave a slight nod, but his irritation must have been palpable, as the woman began to tear up and cry.
He had barely gotten an hour's sleep in the last two days. He wanted to be left alone. No more of Temari's meddlesome ideas. No more rookie writers. No pets.
He was trying to get better, trying to be a better brother, a better coworker.
He was tired of it all.
As he walked home from work, a dim light flickered above him before dying out, blackening the street he was walking on. He rounded the corner of a building. There was a dumpster right around it, and then he would be at his apartment.
He eyed the dumpster as it rattled, widening his steps around it, keeping a careful eye on it. He didn't want to add attacked by a wild animal to his list. He took a large step back as the lid of the dumpster was lifted up with such a force that it fell backwards.
He dragged out his phone, pushing the buttons for 911, when he realized he wasn't attacked, yet.
He looked up from his phone to the dumpster, eyeing the sudden appearance of a man that looked close to his age. In the dim lighting, he could see that the man's face had some stubble on it, so he hadn't been on the streets for too long, and his blue eyes were clear, so no drug abuse.
The man's nose screwed up, and he picked off flecks of garbage. He rubbed his blond hair, garbage falling out of it, and mumbling with irritation, said, "I didn't do nothing to that jerk, and yet he threw me into the dumpster! Must of been a bad day, or something."
Gaara stepped back as the blond haired man lifted himself easily out of the dumpster, flipping himself over the lid and landing on his feet beside it.
The blond looked over at him, and called out, "Hey! Red head! What town is this?"
Gaara blinked, knowing that he was the red head the blond was talking to, no one had red hair like his, and edged away, saying, "Suna, you're in Suna." He was ready to make a run for it, thinking that the blond must be some sort of crazy, when the blond sighed.
"How in the world did I get here? I mean, it's only an hour away from Konoha, but I don't even remember walking that far."
He watched the blond rub his hand on the back of his neck. What would Temari do in a situation like this? Gaara shook his head, she'd probably just whack the guy on the head, and run, leaving him unconscious on the ground.
At that, he turned around to leave, but was stopped when the blond grabbed his attention again. "Red head, hey, um, do you need a maid?"
"No," he said, glancing over his shoulder. The blond cursed, and kicked his feet in the ground. Then he realized the red head had stopped. Gaara ignored the fact that the blond was now looking him up and down like he'd seen many guys do to women on television.
"Do you need a," the blond blushed, and ducked his head, before looking up at Gaara through the fringe of his bangs. "A pet?"
Gaara turned around to face the blond, amazed at such a change in personality. If he didn't know better, the man was acting like a girl, and it wasn't awkward at all, like he had practiced it. The red head blinked, and then focused on the fact that he had asked if he needed a pet.
"Yes, I do need a pet," he said cautiously, taking another small step away from the blond.
The man gave him a grin that seemed to have multiple intentions behind it, "Well, how about I be your pet, for tonight?"
The red head glanced at the blond, "Are you trying to steal from me?"
"Nope, I won't take anything unless you give it to me," there was a wink.
"Temari never said what kind of pet," he murmured, too low for the other man to hear.
His headache just wouldn't go away. He wanted to go home.
"Fine," he said looking at the man. "You can be my pet, but not just for tonight. I'm going to need you for the rest of the week. Then you can leave as you wish."
The blond looked at the red head carefully, as if he were judging him, before slowly nodding.
Gaara jerked his head towards his apartment, ordering the man to follow him.
His apartment was a simple two bedroom, one bathroom type. The kitchen and living room were together, and there were no decorations; his walls a blank piece of paper.
He turned towards his guest as he came into the house. "First thing's first, go get a bath. I don't want my apartment smelling like a dumpster."
"Yes, master, but I'm a mere pet, do you think I can wash myself?" the grin on the blond's mouth caused him to doubt the innocence in it.
The headache was thrashing against his skull, "Come on, then."
The bathroom was much like the rest of the house: empty. Gaara ran water for a bath, making it slightly hotter than comfortable.
He turned as the blond removed his orange t-shirt. The man brought the shirt up to his nose and smelled it, before making a face. He looked up at the red head, and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have extra clothes? I only brought what was on my back."
"I have extra clothes, I doubt they'll fit you, though," Gaara pointed at the bath tub. "Bath now, clothes later."
"Yes, master," the blond murmured, lowering his eyelids.
"Don't call me master. My name is Gaara," he glared at the man, not amused by his humor.
The blond just nodded, slowly lowering his pants and boxers. Gaara kept his eyes focused on the blond's blue eyes, then jerked his head to the bathtub.
There was a sloshing of water as the blond entered the bathtub with far more gusto than a normal person.
Gaara dunked the blond's hair in the water, getting most of the garbage out before he had to touch it. "Your hair is in pretty good condition," he noted before rubbing shampoo in it.
"So, what are your plans for me as your pet? Any private fantasy you want to act out?" the blond asked him. "I'll do almost anything, I'm a switch."
Gaara leaned the blond's head back, and looked him in the face. Was there a facial key he'd missed that would decode what the blond had said? But, no, the face was as blank as his walls.
"People have fantasies about their pets?" the red head finally asked, letting go of the blond's head.
"Well, they have fantasies about human pets. It would be creepy if they had fantasies about their pet dogs and cats. Or fish," the blond shuddered dramatically.
"All I need you to do is act like a normal pet. You don't have to bark or anything, but Temari said I needed a pet, so that's what you are. I'll tell her on Saturday that you ran away, or something, and that'll drop the whole 'pet' idea she's on right now," he told the blond as he lathered conditioner on the ends of his hair.
"Wait," the blond said. "You mean you need a pet pet?"
Gaara paused, then stared at the blond hair in his face, before asking, "A pet pet? I just need a regular pet."
The blond relaxed, Gaara hadn't even realized that he was tense. "Jeez," said the blond as he rubbed his hand on his face. "I thought you meant you needed a sex pet."
"What?" Gaara nearly fell backwards, but the blond grabbed his wrists keeping him balanced.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm cool with it, though. Really, all I needed was somewhere to sleep, and food. I figured, you weren't too bad looking for a one night stand, or, you know, a one week stand. I didn't realize that you wanted a normal pet." The blond cocked his head in Gaara's hand. "So, um, why don't you just pick up a stray or something?"
"Because," he gritted out, still unbalanced by what the blond had assumed. "They require too much. They need things that I don't have the time or the will to give them."
"Oh," was the quiet response, and Gaara rinsed the blond's hair of as much conditioner as he could get out. He ran his hand through the damp hair, closing his eyes as he felt for any last remnants of soap or garbage. It wasn't until the blond shifted under his hand that he realized he'd been rubbing his hand through it much longer than what was required.
He abruptly stood up, "You can finish the rest of your bath. I've done my part." He exited the bathroom quickly. It wasn't until he was searching the guest bedroom for clothes Kankuro had left behind that he realized his head wasn't throbbing.
"Stupid blond," he muttered, before placing Kankuro's clothes outside the bathroom door. He knocked, and said, "There's some clothes outside that might fit you. Whatever doesn't just leave in the bathroom."
He didn't wait for a reply, but headed to the kitchen to find some food for the blond.
It had been over a week since he'd gone to the grocery store, and he wasn't sure if he even had food the blond would like. He just hoped he wasn't allergic to anything.
His rummaging in the cabinets and the fridge turned up relatively few things. The only thing that would even consist of a meal was some ramen that his sister had given him when he first moved in. "For days you don't want to cook," she'd told him with a wink.
He'd forgotten that he'd even had it in his kitchen.
He set a pot of water on the stove, waiting for it to come to a boil.
It was strange having another person in his home, using his bathroom. Temari and Kankuro would come over every once in a while, sometimes staying the night in his extra bedroom, sometimes leaving within the hour. This would be the first time someone would stay over for more than a night.
He didn't even know the stranger's name.
Suddenly he heard someone singing. Gaara blinked, and looked down the hall at the bathroom door where the source of singing was coming from. Then he froze as he realized the raunchiness of the lyrics.
The bubbling of water brought him back to earth, and reminded him of the dinner he was making. He set the bowl of ramen on the kitchen table so it would cool down for the blond to eat when he got out of the bathroom. The singing had stopped by then.
The bathroom door burst open, and the blond came out with a towel around his shoulders, and Kankuro's sport shorts. He looked over at the table, crept up to the bowl, looking over the rim and studying its contents.
"Ramen!" the blond cried out, and before Gaara could blink, he was sitting at the table, slurping up the noodles.
When the blond finally took a small break for air, Gaara quickly asked, "What's your name?"
The blond glanced at him, and slurped up some more noodles, before giving him a grin, "You're my master, Gaara, you gotta name me."
The red head glared at him. When that did nothing to change the blond's argument, he said, "Fine, your name is Pet."
The blond stared at him, noodles dangling out of his mouth. Then he slurped them up and said, "You're real creative, you know that?"
The red head didn't deign to give him an answer. Instead he stood up, and said, "I'm going to bed. You're room is next to the bathroom. I wake up at six, and go to work at seven. I'm gone for most of the day, and don't come home until late at night. If you make any racket while I sleep, I will kick you out and it will be painful."
With that, he left the blond to slurp his salty noodles.
Author's Note: Happy GaaraXNaruto fanday! I hope you enjoy my first chapter. If you'd like more GaaNaru-ness I left a link on my profile that will send you to the GaaNaru livejournal community. They're posting lots of fanart and fanfics for the GaaNaru fanday. Also, I'm looking for a Beta, so if you're interested, please message me. Thank you!