'I'm not afraid of you. You have the same eyes as me. We're the same.' Naruto said plainly. 'You know nothing of hell.' Gaara snarled.
NaruGaa thingies from the Chuunin Exams up till Shippuden. Kinda like another version of Demon Eyes if you think about it.
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Gaara turned his angry gaze to the blonde Leaf ninja, he was vaguely annoyed with this one for tailing him half-way across the village.
Without turning he knew there were no witnesses, no one would miss one little genin, he could kill him now and be done with it.
"Stop following me or I'll kill you." Gaara said flatly.
You're giving the brat options? Mother questioned in his mind.So it would seem.
"No." came the defiant voice.
Mother laughed manically. Foolish child, kill him now!
Hold on. I wish to know why he was following me.
Ignoring Mother's protests he turned to the ninja. He raised a non-existent eyebrow at the genin and glared.
He was surprise therefore when the blonde smiled. This wasn't planned, what was wrong with this kid?
Didn't he know who he was dealing with? His glare was notorious for sending ANBU screaming, wasn't he scared at all?
He scanned for any signs of fear on the genin, there were none. Why? Who did he think he was, standing against him like that?
Gaara snarled. He must die!
His sand snaked out of its own accord, but the blonde did not flinch, he did not cower, he simply observed the sand in mild curiosity.
This made Gaara even more annoyed, shouldn't he be screaming for mercy right about now? Or at least trying to get away?
"Do you wish to die or something?" he snapped. "If you are so weak that you wish death, then you are not worthy of killing."
The sand retreated.
"No, I don't want to die. I want to talk to you," the blonde said.
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "What?" he hissed.
The genin smiled again. "I like you, I wanna talk." He repeated.
"Well I don't like you. Leave me be." Gaara snarled. This brat was speaking rubbish!
How could he possibly like him? Hadn't he nearly killed the blonde's friend, that weird-green-jumpsuit-wearing-taijutsu-kid?
He had glared at Gaara then, the same expression he had come to expect from people, even welcomed, it meant he could kill them that much sooner.
The blonde cocked his head to one side. "You talk funny," he said.
"I what?" Gaara snapped.
"Talk funny. Old-fashioned. It's funny. I like it," the blonde said.
Gaara's eyes narrowed even further, he was beginning to see red. This idiot was so annoying, he should just kill him now and rid himself of this moron.
The blonde smiled again. "You're pretty angry all the time aren't you?" he asked.
"Yes. And in case you had not already noticed, I have no qualms killing people who irritate me, and right now you're irritating me more than anyone ever has."
The blonde frowned this time as if to say 'qualms? Who the hell uses that word anymore?'. Then he glared.
"Yes I did notice that thankyou very much," his voice was dangerous now, well dangerous to anyone else, it just made Gaara excited, he was anticipating a fight from the blonde now, good, he needed fresh blood.
"You nearly killed Lee."
Gaara grinned evilly. "And you're here to 'seek revenge' right? Good luck with that, I have no intention of letting my existence fade,"
The blonde shook his head. "I'm not here to fight you. Though I should beat you into the ground for what you did to Lee, that's not why I followed you."
This made Mother laugh.
Does that kid really think he could beat us into the ground? Funny child, we should wait to kill him, to see what other nonsense he can spout.
Yes Mother.
"Then what did you follow me for? I have very little patience, and you're wearing it thin." Gaara demanded.
The genin's eyes took on a sort of blaze, like a fire had been lit behind them. This was something Gaara had never seen before, and he wondered briefly what is was.
"I want to ask you why you gave up on life." The blonde said lowly.
Gaara froze. What did he just say?
"I want to ask you why you sided with that demon in your head. The deepest part of hell is reserved for people who take life lightly, which means you."
Gaara unfroze. With a deadly growl low in his throat and used his sand to pin the blonde to a wall.
The blonde's head cracked as it connected with the stone wall. Now he looked frightened. Gaara almost grinned. Good, it was about time he came to his senses.
"You know nothing of hell." He growled.
Can I kill him now Mother?
Yes. Kill him, I've grown bored of him now.
Finally.
The sand crept up to the blonde's neck, and Gaara watched in satisfaction as terror reached the blonde's features. This was what he was waiting for.
This was worth the pain. This…would be enjoyable.
Then the blaze was back in the blonde's blue eyes.
"You're the one whose weak, giving in like you did and becoming the demon inside you, it's you whose existence means nothing," he said calmly.
Gaara snarled and broke the blonde's right arm with a snap. The blonde winced, but that was it.
"You know nothing of weakness!" Gaara shouted.
The blonde blinked.
Even Gaara was surprised, he never shouted, or ever explained himself to anyone, but know he felt justified in yelling at this sheltered and happy idiot, who quite obviously knew nothing of what Gaara had gone through.
"You have no idea what it is to be feared and hated, for something that wasn't even your fault! You don't know what it's like to have no friends or family, to have people run in fear when they see you coming! You don't know what's it is to be me! You have absolutely no idea how it feels to be torn from the inside out, to be glared at, spat at, run from and to have to run constantly from assassins sent by your own father! You don't have to look over your shoulder to make sure no one is coming to kill you today, you don't know what it's like! You're just an idiot, a sheltered idiot who has no idea what pain is!"
Gaara was screaming by the end of his speech-slash-rant. Pure murder in his eyes he made to kill the moron in one painful swoop.
"Actually I do." The blonde said suddenly.
This stopped Gaara.
"How could you? How could you possibly understand me, what I've been through, and still going through, how could the likes of you ever know what's it's like?" he hissed quietly.
His voice hurt from yelling but it hardly mattered now, he wanted to hear what kind of answer the blonde could give him
When the blonde looked at him this time, Gaara's heart stopped as he saw himself reflected in the blue depths.
All the pain and sorrow that Gaara felt were brought to the surface in those eyes, and it hurt his chest to see it mirrored back at him.
It hurt to see it in the eyes of someone so happy. This made Gaara wonder why.
Why did those eyes show himself? Why did the genin look so sad? Why him of all people? Why?
"Because I'm just like you." The blonde said. "The only difference between us is that I had no idea I was a demon until recently, and I don't have a father or assassins after me."
The sand holding him fell away and he crumpled to the ground. Clutching his broken arm he stood as Gaara backed away to the opposite wall.
He was shaking and his eyes wide, his breathing was uneven and heavy, he clutched the fabric of his shirt over his heart and fell back against the wall.
It couldn't be possible. No one could understand him, who was this boy? Why was he like Gaara?
"You can't be." He whispered. "You're so…"
Pure. Gaara thought. So good, so helpful, so…happy.
"Kind." Gaara finally said. He shook his head in disbelief. "You're nothing like me, you have to be."
"Why?" the blonde asked.
Because then there would be hope. And I can't have hope. I don't deserve hope, nor was I made for hope.
With some effort the blonde – what was his name again? Naruto wasn't it? Yes that's it, Uzumaki Naruto – came over to him.
"Just because we're not the same on the outside, doesn't mean we're not the same on the inside. Your Shukaku yeah? Well I'm Kyuubi."
"Kyuubi…no. That's not possible. It was destroyed by the Fourth Hokage. You're lying to me." Gaara said.
But in his heart he knew he was wrong.
And it was confirmed when Naruto shook his head.
"Can't kill a demon. The Fourth sealed it, inside me. I didn't know until a few months ago. Up till then, I had no idea why everyone hated me, it hurt all the more to find out the truth."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope. Here I'll tell you,"
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"Gaara w-where are you g-going at this time of n-n-ight?" Temari asked hesitantly, not wanting to anger her little brother.
Gaara turned to look at her expressionlessly. "Out." He said simply.
"O-Okay. Don't be too long…?"
Gaara ignored her.
He had no need to explain himself to her, he was going to see Naruto.
The sand demon sifted silently through the streets of the Leaf village, until he found what he was looking for.
He easily climbed to the highest window and sent a trail of sand trickling in through the crack at the bottom.
The sand tickled the underside of Naruto's chin until he woke up.
With fuzzy eyes he focused on the red head, and grinned. He got up and opened the window, Gaara wordlessly climbed in.
"Hi." Naruto said.
"Hello Naruto," Gaara said emotionlessly.
Naruto shut the window and sat by his bed, motioning for Gaara to do the same.
Gaara sat beside the blonde and studied his profile.
Now he no longer had Mother's voice in his head, ordering him to kill, he could allow himself to think clearly.
He wondered why Mother's voice had gone from him, he suspected it had something to do with Naruto.
"The Final Rounds are tomorrow, you nervous?" Naruto asked quietly.
Gaara considered the questioned. "Yes and no," he answered eventually.
Naruto cocked his head in curiosity but Gaara didn't offer further explanation.
Yes he was nervous about tomorrow, not about his own battle… he was nervous about Naruto.
His opponent, Hyuuga Neji, seemed a tough foe, and he worried for Naruto.
But this thought lead to another…why did he care so much?
He'd never cared for another human's well-being before, so why start now? And with such an unlikely person.
Naruto began telling him all about the people he knew in the Exams, Gaara nodding and putting in a word or two every now and then.
He would never admit it, but he enjoyed being in Naruto's company. He wasn't sure why, but it was strangely comforting to be with someone who was just like him.
And yet so different.
If I hadn't given up, would I be like him right now? Perhaps it is not too late, maybe I can still be like him, if I try hard enough, maybe one day I can…
He paused in his thoughts as he realised Naruto had asked him a question.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked.
Naruto pouted childishly. "Mean Gaara, not even paying attention to me," he huffed.
"I said what do you think of Sasuke?"
Gaara thought about this. His first impression of the Uchiha was that he was the strongest around, but then his first impression of Naruto had been far different to what he thought now.
So what did he think of Sasuke?
"How do you keep smiling? You say you are Kyuubi, so how can you continue to be happy even though you have not known love?" Gaara asked instead.
Love was a foreign concept to Gaara, and saying the word felt strange, but he wanted to know Naruto's answer in order to find his own.
Naruto blinked at the change of subject.
"Oh. Well…I don't really. I only smile so no one can tell I'm hurting. I keep telling myself the more I smile, the more it'll get better. I've never really been happy…until now. I'm happy that I met you," Naruto said after a while.
This time it was Gaara's turn to blink.
"You're happy because you met me? Really?" he asked in disbelief.
No one had been happy because of him before, was Naruto really happy to have met him? But…he was Gaara! No one could be happy knowing him.
"Yup! I'm glad I met someone like me, I feel like you really understand, because we're the same. You know? Aren't you happy you met me too?" Naruto said.
"…"
Gaara looked down.
"…Yes. I suppose I am happy that I met you," he looked up hesitantly, fearing rejection. "I like being around you."
Naruto's face broke into a wide grin. "Really? I like being around you too Gaara! You're my bestest friend ever in the whole world!"
Gaara's eyes widened. "I'm your what?" he asked.
"My bestest friend in the whole world," Naruto repeated in a sing-song voice. "Am I your best friend too? Am I am I am I?"
"…Yes. You're my only friend." Gaara said after a moment's pause.
A friend.
He'd made a friend.
That made Gaara smile. Only a small one, but a smile nonetheless.
"Then I think you are stronger than Sasuke." Gaara said.
To able to withstand the same pain as myself, and still hold his head high, that is strength. The Uchiha is nothing compared to Naruto. He has only to realise it.
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"Because people called me a failure! I'll prove 'em wrong!"
Gaara gripped the railing to prevent himself from rushing down to the arena to help his new friend Naruto against the Hyuuga.
As the swirling orange chakra of Kyuubi surrounded Naruto Gaara began to worry. What if the beast fully surfaced?
Gaara wasn't sure what kind of seal Naruto had, but it was possible that if Naruto lost total control, the demon could come out.
What should I do Mother?
Don't look at me brat, I'm done playing nice with you. Ever since you befriended Kyuubi and his brat I've got nothing more to say to you.
Gaara grit his teeth and glared.
Only because I refuse to let you use me any further…Shukaku.
Shukaku seemed almost to flinch at the sound of his true name being spoken by his vessel in such a tone.
Naruto is my best and only friend. Because of him I have decided to give people a second chance, I will not have you ruin that.
Shukaku stayed quiet, silently sulking in the recesses of Gaara's mind, to which the redhead was grateful.
"Kankuro," he said lowly.
His older brother jumped backwards slightly and smiled wobbly. Gaara almost sighed in sorrow.
"Y-Yeah Gaara?" he said.
Gaara let out an audible sigh this time. He looked directly at his brother, who flinched at being looked straight in the eye.
"Take care of Temari please, and yourself. I'm leaving," Gaara said walking away.
He would stay with Naruto to learn how to be a better person. He might return to the sand when he had finished.
"Wait what? Gaara!"
Gaara stopped and turned, Kankuro and Temari caught up with him at the stairs.
"What do you mean you're leaving?" Kankuro asked.
"Yeah and what about our mission?" Temari added.
Gaara glared. "I am nothing but a burden to both of you and we all know it is true. I am selfish and cruel and have completely taken you two for granted since I met you." He said.
"And as for the mission. I will not take part in an invasion of this village."
"How come?" Kankuro asked.
Just then there was a huge explosion that caught the sand sibling's attention.
Naruto…
"Naruto!" Gaara ran to the railing and leaned over it, trying to see the blonde in the smoke cloud.
No, no he couldn't be…dead could he?
"No, you can't be dead Naruto you just can't be dead," he said lowly to himself.
"Who's Naruto?" Temari asked looking worriedly at Gaara.
Gaara sighed out his nose. "Naruto is a very dear friend of mine. And if he is hurt I will personally crush that Hyuuga to death," he said.
Temari and Kankuro looked at each other in disbelief. Gaara had made a friend? Who he was willing to kill for?
"You made a friend Gaara? That's fantastic!" Temari smiled.
Gaara looked up at her, and blinked twice. "You…you think so?" he asked.
"Of course, it's wonderful that you've made a friend." Temari insisted.
"I did it! I DID IT!"
The sand siblings looked down to see a very pleased Naruto running around the arena.
"Looks like the kid won, impressive." Kankuro said.
"Naruto." Gaara breathed. Gaara's anxious face relaxed into a relieved smile.
His siblings looked at him in wonder. He was like a different person. All because of the Uzumaki kid? Why?
"Hey Gaara did you see me did you see me? I was great wasn't I?" Naruto cried running up the stairs and over to his friend.
Naruto threw himself into Gaara's which miraculously caught him despite his speed.
"Yes I saw you, you were amazing. I'm proud." Gaara said.
"Really? Hehe, did you hear that Shikamaru? Gaara says I'm amazing!" Naruto boasted to Shikamaru.
"Was he sane when he said it?" Shikamaru asked dryly not looking up.
Naruto glared. "I warn you Shikamaru, one more bad word about Gaara and I WILL hurt you." He growled dangerously.
Shikamaru blinked and looked up to where Naruto still stood in Gaara's arms.
"…Okay. Sorry Naruto, Gaara." He said looking away again.
Naruto was instantly cheerful again.
"Ne Gaara did you see how I kicked Neji's butt with the Kyuubi? I am so awesome I didn't even know I could do that! Wasn't it cool?"
Naruto went on to talk about how cool he was in his battle and left Kankuro and Temari to wonder why Gaara had befriended such an arrogant person.
But Gaara knew it was because Naruto had never succeeded in anything before and was very pleased he had won against an opponent like Neji.
And so was Gaara. It gave him one less worry.
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Gaara paced in front of the hospital door where his brother Kankuro sat anxiously.
Choji, Kiba and Neji had been retrieved from the Sasuke Rescue Mission in serious condition.
Gaara knew Kankuro was "sort-of-friends" with Kiba and was therefore anxious about his recovery, and that of his dog Akamaru's.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Kiba was his friend, and he was worried.
But still no word of Naruto. Gaara grew more and more concerned as the minutes ticked by.
If the Uchiha killed him Gaara was going to hunt him down and give him the slowest most painful deaths imaginable. As a start.
"Gaara please stop pacing, I'm freaked out enough as it is," Kankuro said nervously.
"You're freaked out, at least you know Kiba's alive. I don't even know where Naruto is, or whether he's still alive or not, I'm gonna murder Uchiha when I get my hands on him, there won't be anything left by the time I'm done with him if he's put one scratch on Naruto." Gaara ranted.
Kankuro sighed. He was well-aware of what Naruto meant to Gaara, and knew exactly why he was reacting like he was.
Finally they got word. Kakashi had picked up Naruto in a bad state, he had severe injuries but he was going to make it. Sasuke could not be found anywhere.
The mission had failed. But they were all alive.
Gaara slumped against the wall in relief.
"I'm still gonna pound the Uchiha into the wall for nearly killing Naruto. But for now…I'm simply glad he's alive." Gaara sighed.
Kankuro smiled. "Ya I know whatcha mean. Akamaru's pretty poorly and it's doin' Kiba in big time. Whadda say we hang around for a while? I know you want to make sure Naruto's okay, and Temari likes to insult the Nara, add to that I'd like to help Kiba out…well?"
Gaara actually smiled at his brother. "You're smarter than I ever gave you credit for." He said.
Kankuro smiled wider at his little brother's praise. "I'll talk to the Hokage and ask."
After they had spoken to the new Hokage, Tsunade, who had agreed on their staying for another week or so, Gaara went to see Naruto.
The blonde was covered in bandages, and was staring blankly at the ceiling when he entered,
When Naruto heard the door open he turned his head, and in surprise he sat up.
"Gaara?" he questioned.
"You were expecting another?" Gaara said coming into the room.
"Well…no. What're you doing here?"
"They didn't tell you? The Hokage sent my siblings and I after your friends because the Sound Ninja Five were getting the better of them. I helped Lee-san with Kimimaro," Gaara told him sitting down.
"Lee? With that bone guy yeah? I couldn't get anywhere near that guy, if it hadn't been for Lee I would've been screwed." Naruto said casually.
"Naruto…are you okay? I heard about Sasuke…" Gaara said carefully. He knew he was treading on thin ice here.
Naruto looked down sadly.
"I couldn't get Sasuke back…I failed Sakura-chan…I promise her I'd bring Sasuke back…and I will. I won't stop until I bring that bastard back here, I always keep my word!" Naruto was smiling again, a determined smile so confident that Gaara instantly believed him.
He would get Sasuke back, even if it took three life times to do it.
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"You have GOT to be kidding me!"
Gaara looked up from his Kazekage work at the voice. He knew that voice…
"Naruto?" he called.
"Gaara!" Naruto burst through the door, gaping at the young Kazekage. "I can't believe this, Temari wasn't pulling me leg, you really DID become Kazekage!"
Gaara winced at the volume of Naruto's voice.
"Why is that such a surprise? You're not the only one who has dreams to accomplish you know,"
Gaara must've sounded defensive because Naruto immediately looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry Gaara, it's just a huge surprise to me, I mean, who knew you'd become Kazekage before I became Hokage? Hehehe, makes me feel kina inadequate now," Naruto said scratching the back of his neck nervously.
"I had no intention of making you feel as though you were inferior to me Naruto, I wanted to be Kazekage because…well…" Gaara trailed off embarrassed.
"Because of what?" Naruto questioned bounding up to the desk and leaning forward so his nose was nearly touching Gaara's.
"I wanted to see if I could be like you, I wanted to adequate enough to call myself your equal, though I could never compare to you of course," Gaara whispered.
"Compare yourself to me? But Gaara, you've always been a better ninja than me," Naruto argued surprised at his answer.
"I don't mean in skill." Gaara said.
"Then what do you…oh. Gaara, you know you're my bestest friend, you should know you have nothing to prove to me. Though I am proud of your achievement,"
"You…you are?"
"Of course! It's a big thing becoming a 'Kage, I'm even a little envious, but don't worry, it'll be fun to be Hokage whose best friends with the Kazekage ne?"
"I suppose so. But even still I…I've never thought myself worthy of being called your friend, and now I've gone and –" Gaara broke off mentally cursing.
Why did Naruto have to be so easy to talk to? He always showed too much in speaking with the blonde, and now he may have just ruined their friendship!
Damn feelings, why did he need them again? Oh yeah, so he wouldn't turn back into a homicidal maniac. Right now homicidal looked like the better option.
"Gone and done what?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing, nothing Naruto forget it." Gaara said.
Naruto frowned. "Stop hiding things from me, now, gone and done what?"
Gaara sighed in defeat, he wasn't going to get out of this one.
"I'm feeling things that I should feel towards a friend, and I don't want it to ruin everything but I can't stop it," Gaara said eventually.
"Oh. Well that's all you had to say Gaara," Naruto smiled.
Then he did something that Gaara hadn't expected – not that he complained about it of course – Naruto closed the distance between them, and pressed his lips to Gaara's.
Gaara's eyes slipped closed of their own accord, and he pressed back against Naruto.
Naruto, who by then knew he hadn't misinterpreted his friend's meaning, brushed his tongue over Gaara's bottom lip.
Startled Gaara gasped, which allowed Naruto to explore Gaara's mouth with his tongue.
A shocked – but still uncomplaining – Gaara twisted his fingers in Naruto's hair, while Naruto hands made their way over ever inch of Gaara's exposed skin.
He shivered and gasped and finally pulled back, looking into Naruto's smiling face.
"Is that what you meant?" Naruto asked sitting on the edge of Gaara's desk.
"Yes but…why did you do that?" Gaara said still stunned by the kiss.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "And you're supposed to be the smart one," he muttered to himself.
He came up real close to Gaara's face again and whispered, "Because I love you. I have for a long time Gaara," he kissed him again.
Before it could get as serious as it had been before Gaara pulled away, "How long have you felt this way?" he asked.
"Few years. Right after we became friends in the Chuunin Exams." Naruto said.
Gaara's eyes widened. He'd been waiting to have Gaara for that long?
"That was years ago, and you never said anything until now?"
"Well I didn't want you to freak out, or to ruin our friendship. I know that you and love aren't exactly on good terms, so I thought it best to just be your friend,"
This made Gaara feel guilty. He of all people knew what it was like to care for someone only to be denied, and he'd been denying Naruto for years.
It must've hurt Naruto.
All because Naruto was trying to protect him.
He'd have to make it up to him somehow.
"Naruto…" Gaara said.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked leaving over to Gaara once again.
"If I told you I love you, would you forgive me for taking so long to realise it?"
Naruto grinned. "Yes Gaara," he said.
Gaara smiled. "Then I love you,"
Still grinning, Naruto leaned down, and kissed him again.