Chicken Soup for the Demon Soul
By: Crystal Terror
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Summary: When Naruto is stuck indoors with the flu, it's up to Gaara to nurse him back to health! But as the boy helps it only seems to make things worse! But at the end of the day will Naruto appreciate the help or yell because his ramen wasn't just right!
Naruto x Gaara (romance/general/slight humor)
"Aaah-ahhhhhh-Atchooooooooooooo!" the blond cried his nose immediately flung into a Kleenex. "You're too sick to go on the mission today," Sasuke said looking over Sakura's shoulder at the thermometer in her hand. Naruto wadded up the Kleenex and threw it into the huge pile beside his bed. "I AM NOT TOO SICK!" he screamed his voice cracking in the middle of his cry. His pink haired female teammate shook her head and said, "You're not going. Besides we're just babysitting today. Watching out for the little kids and feeding them. Nothing exciting."
The demon boy frowned and pouted. Sakura ruffled his hair and Sasuke waved a silent goodbye. "Gaara is on his way too care for you!" Sakura called before she went out the door. Naruto fell back into his pillows and whined, "But I'm no- ahhhhhhhh-atchoo!" He hated being under the weather. His head was all fuzzy, his nose all puffy, and his eyes all… well, they were red and leaking tears. Not to mention that sinking feeling his stomach.
Placing the key Sakura gave him into the slot, Gaara pushed open the door to the fox demons home. By the way the two had described Naruto's condition earlier it seemed like he needed a lot of help. Looking around the small home, the Kazekage called out, "Na-ru-to!"
He walked into the bedroom to see a stack of used Kleenexes and a motionless Naruto on the bed. The red haired boy tiptoed over to the bed and poked the boy. Instantly Naruto was up and throwing kunai, shuriken, Kleenexes, lamps, and anything else he could reach at the Sand native.
When he calmed, the sapphire orbed idiot blinked a few times to get used to the idea of Gaara helping. You don't use those two words in a sentence often. "H-hey, Gaara," Naruto greeted rubbing his already sore nose. The emerald eyed boy waved offhandedly pulling the kunai and shuriken from his clothes. Naruto had pretty good aim.
Naruto swung his legs over the side of his bed, the blue flannel pajama bottoms he'd gotten from Sakura falling over his feet. Gaara immediately pushed him back into bed. "Sakura said that you needed some rest. I'll be the one doing all of the house work, so you rest," the boy instructed pushing his blonde friend's head into the pillow gently.
The demon boy smiled slightly and reluctantly pulled the covers up around himself. Gaara smirked triumphantly as he looked over the list that Naruto's teammates handed him. His eyes widened when he noticed all the things to do. Wash clothes, water and weed plants, not let Naruto near ramen, put away all weapons because Naruto was startled easily. The list went on and on.
Wiping away the beads of sweat that rolled down his face, Gaara sighed disposing of the weeds he'd plucked. This wasn't one of the jobs he enjoyed at the most. Being a native to drier climates he really didn't have to watch plants. There were a few cactuses here and there and maybe a dying bush or two, but nothing extreme like this.
People who passed looked at him oddly and some even laughed at his struggle. They could've at least offered some help! If only there was enough dirt, he would have so-
"Gaara…?" The insomniac whipped around quickly to see the sickly Naruto. His cheeks were a bright red color and his eyes were dull and were almost a gray color. "Naruto! You're supposed to be in bed!" The red haired teen said, shoving his friend back inside. "And no buts! Goodness, you're as stubborn and whiny as Kankuro when he misses his soap operas!"
Naruto flipped through the magazine, his back propped against the pillows. He could hear the commotion outside his window and if he leaned over enough, he could also see Gaara struggling with the clothes lines.
Cerulean orbs stared out the window and watched with mild amusement to see Gaara yell at the falling clothesline, spewing colorful words out of his mouth while doing so. "I'm glad that I am sick now. I would've missed this," Naruto whispered to himself. But after a couple of minutes, his eyes weren't watching Gaara's antics or the clothesline. His gaze was fixated on the cute little behind of the Kazekage.
"This shouldn't be this hard! I mean Temari can do it!" Gaara cried in frustration watching as the line fell down for the twentieth time. Completely pissed now, the emerald eyed boy placed all of Naruto's garments back into the basket and stormed back into the small home.
He crossed out gardening and clothes when he got to the counter. Tapping the black pen to his mouth he looked for something easy to do. The first thing his eyes landed on was: Give Naruto a bath. His face turned bright red as the thought registered in his head. "I'll just run the bath water and leave him there by himself. Yes, that is what I'll do," he whispered to himself calming down his racing heart.
Turning off the water, Gaara sighed. "Naruto, it's ready!" Gaara called out the door. The blond haired boy walked inside and without even removing his articles of clothing, he slumped into the bathtub.
"My God! What the hell are you doing?" Gaara asked pulling his friend out of the warm water. The sick male didn't even answer. "Get inside, Naruto. But don't fall asleep. I'll be right here," the red haired boy stated turning around to face the wall. His blush spread across his cheeks quickly as he heard Naruto changing out of his clothes.
A very red Gaara crossed bathing off the list. Naruto was fully dressed and back in bed, reading that magazine again. "Let's see," the boy said tapping the pen to his chin again. Washing dishes couldn't be that bad, now could it?
Placing all of the pots and pans, plates and bowls, and the silverware into the sink Gaara smiled. This was easy. Until he heard Naruto sigh. "Gaara, you're doing it wrong," the blonde said walking towards the sink. Crossing his arms over his chest the Kazekage asked stubbornly, "How can I be washing dishes the wrong way?" The Kyuubi coughed and stated matter-of-factly, "You wash cups first, the bowls and plates, afterwards you do silverware and pans. The pans contain grease which would get all inside the cups which would be sooooooooo gross."
The red haired teen sweat dropped. Frowning the boy shook his head. Washing the dishes wasn't going to be fun either. And he hated having fun was what was funny! Oh the irony of it all!
The only thing left on the list was food. Easy enough. He'd make something simple. But not ramen. A small smile spread across the boy's face as he looked over the instruction again. Simple.
The Sunagakure native dug through cabinet after cabinet. Nothing but ramen. "Naruto! Do you not have any food besides this artery clogging stuff?" When a reply of no came, Gaara sighed. He'd have to go to the store but Sakura told him not to let Naruto up.
Then he heard heaven call down to him. "Wait! I think there are some cans of food Sasuke and Sakura placed into the lower right cabinet!" Naruto called, coughing in-between every other word. If Gaara were the spontaneous and had a little Naruto in him, he would've so jumped for joy and screamed in delight.
Gaara swirled the spoon around in the pot. He smiled at his creation. Thank goodness for Naruto's two teammates. He dipped the soup into the plastic bowl placing a clean spoon into the warm contents.
"Here, Naruto," the emerald eyed boy said handing over the food to his sapphire orbed friend. The fox boy grinned showing off two straight rows of white teeth. "This should make you feel better. Temari used to make it for me when I was sick." Gaara watched as Naruto slurped the noodles into his mouth.
"Not as good as ramen, but you made it and that's what matters!" Naruto said tilting his head to the side to look at Gaara from an angle. Unexpectedly, the blonde leaned forward planting a soft kiss on Gaara's cheek. The red haired teen embraced his good friend. "Thanks, Gaara," Naruto whispered burying his face into Gaara's shoulder.
"Hmm? That's odd," Sakura said removing her fist off the door. Sasuke leaned on the wall beside her and shrugged. The pink haired teen dug out her copy of the key and opened the door. "Gaara hasn't answered the door. Do you think something is wrong?"
The Uchiha shook his head no and reassured, "I'm sure that they're okay. Gaara's a tough guy and he can look over Naruto." The jade eyed girl smiled.
The two entered the house and Sakura immediately worked her way into the living room. On the couch she found two figures snuggled up on the bed. "Aw," she whispered to herself waking up Naruto. "Hey, Sakura," he yawned out. Sasuke rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen finding something to drink. Naruto did it to him!
"You like Gaara a lot don't you?" the female of Team 7 said smiling softly. The red haired boy slept peacefully, emerald eyes lidded by a layer of skin. Naruto blushed ten colors and nodded slowly. "Well, then. You can have Gaara and I'll take Sasuke." Sakura said turning back to look at the third member of their team. Naruto smirked and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
The End
Authoresses Notes: Well, I hope you enjoyed this story. It took some thought. I threw in a bit of SasuSaku fluff for a friend. Anyways. Thanks for those of you who reviewed my other story. That meant a lot to me and this is dedicated to all of you Gaara x Naruto shippers!
Crystal Terror