Title: Cookie Chips
Series: Naruto
Rating: K
Based on prompt: Gaara watches Naruto sleeping (and thanks to Kosmonauttihai at deviantART for inspirational assistance)
Pairings: Gaara and Naruto being friends, so none really
Setting: canonverse, post Sasuke Retrieval Arc but pre Timeskip

Gaara tried not to breathe. Tried not to make a sound or have his legs accidentally touch those underneath the blanket he was kneeling on.

He was used to moving silently, and nimble enough that this should not be a difficult task for him. At the moment his shinobi training was, however, thrown out the window and he was just an awkward thirteen-year-old boy who was wishing his friend would not wake up as he crawled on top of him.

He didn't dare to use his sand to help in any way; the small sound of it might be too loud. The stray grains might tickle.

He wondered, if he was caught doing what he was attempting now, could they still be friends?

Would Naruto trust him anymore?

He didn't want to lose this person he had inadvertently gotten close to. He wouldn't be completely alone anymore, he knew that, but during his stay with the boy in Konoha, he had also become aware of that he wanted that 'not alone' state of being to include Naruto in one way or another. If this was risking it, he should try to contain his curiosity.

But he just couldn't help himself. He had to know.

The room was lit by only moonlight, but it was nearly a full moon outside, and Naruto's bed was by a window. It was hardly dark at all, and they both had excellent vision.

A small snore startled Gaara, as he leaned closer to the whiskered face. He stood up a little to adjust his shirt that was hanging loose from his thin frame and brushing against the arm Naruto had rested on his stomach.

He checked that his legs were on each side of and not touching Naruto's. His right hand was by the boy's shoulder, also not touching. He waited a while to make sure Naruto wouldn't start moving, and reached his left hand towards the messy blond hair and leaned his face down again.

Almost there. He leaned in closer, not breathing.

Then Naruto opened his eyes.

Gaara threw himself back so fast only the sand shield prevented him from falling to the floor from the foot of the bed. Naruto sat up, confused, while Gaara stared at him eyes wide with fear and embarrassment.

"What was that, 'ttebayo?"

"I didn't mean to wake you," Gaara said, his voice as calm and toneless as he could manage. Not very calm and toneless, then.

"Um, that's okay... I didn't mean to fall asleep. What were you doing?"

What was he going to say? Should he lie to Naruto? No, he wasn't very good at that, and that would be even worse. If there was one person in the world he should be completely honest with, Gaara was pretty sure that person was now sitting on the bed with him, asking why he had just woken up with his friend's face about an inch away from his.

Gaara pointed at a spot in Naruto's hair, above his right ear.

The blond reached up and drew two playing cards out of his tangled bangs.

"Ooh that's sneaky! You were trying to look at my hand while I slept?" he laughed.

Gaara nodded. "I'm sorry."

Naruto laughed again, louder. "Well that's why I hid the cards, I thought you'd use your Third Eye or something when I wasn't looking! But don't worry –I think the game ended when I passed out." He held out the cards to his friend. "Wanna see?"

Apologizing being about the extent of his polite vocabulary at the moment, Gaara took the cards without a word and turned them around.

"Yeah, pity it doesn't count anymore, isn't it? I had a straight!"

Looking at the three cards on the blanket, Gaara could see it for himself. So Naruto had been bluffing? That counted as some sort of dishonesty, and yet it didn't falter his trust in the loudmouth blond. Gaara hadn't really had to bluff; he was expressionless and quiet enough to have a good poker face anyway, while Naruto more or less made a revealing grin or grimace and a sound effect to match at every turn of the game. Apparently some of those had been faked.

Naruto had even expected him to cheat at the game and was still smiling at him like it was nothing.

Gaara turned over his two cards, to reveal a higher straight.

"Aw," Naruto sulked. "Damnit."

"The game is already over," Gaara reminded him.

"He-hee, that's right!" Naruto said with a renewed cheeky grin, and looked at their cookie stacks. "Looks like we're even."

Gaara nodded again.

"Well, then..." Naruto picked up one of his 'chips' and lifted it like he was toasting with a cup of sake. "Itadakimasu!"

Gaara repeated the word with less enthusiasm, but begun to nibble a cookie as well. They were part of his provisions for the journey from Suna, but he hadn't had the chance to eat them on the road, as him and his siblings had hurried to their respective battles in a shorter time than he had prepared himself for. The package was two cookies short, however, since he had offered Rock Lee one and had one for himself before they had made their way back to Konoha. The taste was nothing special as far as he was concerned, he had chosen them because they were nonperishable and supposedly on the healthier side, but Naruto seemed to appreciate them.

"When I come to Suna someday, we should play for these again!" the blond said with his mouth full, spilling crumbs all over the bed.

"You can just buy them, we don't have to play," Gaara pointed out.

"But what if I want to play with you? Hey! We could play for ramen!"

Gaara said nothing.

"You know, cups of ramen! One cup for each chip!"

"I think I would let you win then."

"You would?" Naruto beamed. "You're officially my best friend now!"

Gaara felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards into a barely noticeable smile –and indeed, it went unnoticed by both of them, as Gaara didn't even recognize it as a smile. He felt warm, and a little lightheaded. He had just been recognized as a friend! A best friend, at that!

"Yeah... I guess you really are," Naruto said in a much less joyful tone. "Seeing as..."

He didn't have to finish, as Gaara knew. It didn't matter to him that he was Naruto's best friend because Sasuke couldn't be that anymore, even a fifth-best friend would have been more than he could have hoped for mere months ago.

Seeing Naruto sad was what was making the warmth go away. It was that emotion he had seen on his face, when he had first properly realized that there was another person in the world who felt the pain he felt, but witnessing it now was making him hurt as well. He wished he knew how to comfort people.

"But you will bring him back." It wasn't really words of consolation, it was what he believed. Naruto would try until he either succeeded, or died. Gaara would have to let him, and trust that it would be the former.

And instead of loudly announcing it was his Ninja Way, Naruto Uzumaki gave a small smile and nodded. For a while they looked at each other in silence, Naruto with the small smile, Gaara with his almost-smile. Nothing more had to be said about wanting to prove yourself, wanting to form and hold on to bonds, or about determination to surpass your old self. The moment wasn't broken until Naruto yawned.

"Your body needs sleep," Gaara reminded him. It would be only a few days before Naruto left with Jiraiya and Gaara and his siblings headed back to Suna. There was no need to mess up his diurnal rhythm just so they could finish their late night snack.

Naruto lowered himself back to the pillow, as Gaara stacked the playing cards and cookies onto the bedside table and did his best to sweep off the crumbs. He then reassumed his sitting position at the foot of the bed. Naruto was used to it by now.

"It's a deal then? You'll let me win if we play for ramen?"

"I promise," Gaara confirmed. It shouldn't be difficult to keep. "If..."

"There's a condition?"

Gaara hesitated. It wasn't an entirely fair trade, but this was a promise he in turn wanted Naruto to keep. At least it wasn't as difficult as the one he had given Sakura.

"If you promise to come to Suna after you have finished your training expedition."

Naruto chuckled drowsily. "Sure."

As he watched his best friend fall into peaceful sleep, Gaara carefully studied with fascination every little twitch and sigh. He had seen his siblings sleep, but it wasn't quite the same. Naruto was like him, but this was one of the few things they didn't have in common.

He couldn't bring himself to be jealous of the other boy's ability to do something so obviously pleasant, but he had to wonder, would he ever have that ability himself. Perhaps by the time Naruto delivered his promise, he would have found a way to strengthen his seal enough that they could have a proper sleepover.