Title: Someone Like You
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, eventual Romance
Characters/Pairing: GaaraFemNaruto
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Summary: "One day, you'll meet someone just like you." Gaara doesn't believe it until he meets her; an angel inside his hell. He doesn't intend on letting her go, and maybe he'll be able to save her too.

Word Count: 5,578

Gaara - 8
Naruto - 7

"Your eyes are really pretty."

She's a pretty little thing with hair as bright as the sun; Gaara has to squint to get a look at her because she's so damn bright in a village full of people who are nothing but dull and dreary. She greets him with a smile and shows off every single one of her teeth; she's missing one on the bottom left side of her mouth, it makes him wonder how old she is.

Gaara finds himself staring; his mouth is open slightly and yet he's at a loss of words. He's not really sure what he should do or say or even how he should react because the hate that he's so used to seeing is nowhere to be found; instead there's blind warmth and acceptance for someone that she's never even met before. She's not from around here.

If the bright blonde hair and big blue eyes didn't give things away, then the fact that she's wearing a headband from a different country is enough to let the redhead know that she's an outsider. It's obvious that she didn't know how things worked around here because she approached him without hesitation despite the heavy glare that previously rested on his face.

She smiles.

Bright and wide.

Warm and welcoming.

"Hey, you're eyes are really pretty."

It takes a second for Gaara to actually process what came out of her mouth; he's never heard those words directed towards him before and it makes his thoughts stop and his mouth open a bit more. She's got to be kidding; lying to him so she can hurt him more later. His eyes were the exact opposite of pretty; they're the eyes of a killer, after all. They're not pretty at all.

"You've got beautiful red hair too. Red's my favorite color in the whole world, yknow?"

His head cocks to the side and his eyes squint just a bit; he answers dumbly, looking right into her electric eyes. "Blue... I like... blue."

Blue. Blue because it reminded him of the sky. The ocean. The beauty of a clashing flower in the middle of a desert wasteland. A sandy beach meeting with an endless ocean. Blue like her eyes as they sparkle with excitement. "I like blue." He says one last time, firmly.

"That's a good color." She agrees, nodding her head up and down in acceptance of his answer.

He wonders if this is a dream; someone is actually talking to him and holding a conversation with him as though he were just a normal human being. She's not treating him like a monster/demon/murderer and he doesn't know how to act anymore. He doesn't want to scare her off because if he does then he thinks he'll cry, it'll hurt his heart the way Yashamaru told him when he tried to make friends.

His mouth clamps shut.

Her smile glows and tries to melt his doubt and insecurity away; she slams a hand onto her own chest and stands tall while introducing herself. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto if you were wondering, I came from Konoha! It's nice to meet ya!"

"I'm Gaara." He says, a bit nervously. How long has it been since he's actually had the chance to introduce himself to someone? Has he ever actually done if before and if not, then is this the right way to do it? A million questions run through his head and he waits and waits for the hate and disgust to appear on her face at the sound of his name, but it never happens.

Actually, she looks pleased. "It's nice to meet you, Gaara."

She takes his hand with both of hers and shakes it firmly; her touch is warm and her skin is a bit calloused, but Gaara finds himself unwilling to let go. "I've never really been out of Konoha before, and we're stopping here for a couple days to resupply and rest, but that's boring! Is there anything fun to do around here?"

Gaara's never been anywhere but the playground but it's not really fun for him; the kids run when they see him and he's always stuck on the swing alone while everyone else plays. The most fun he's had is reading at Yashamaru's house or making fake people out of sand and pretending that he has friends, but even that's not that much fun.

"What do you do... for fun... in your village?"

He speaks lowly but she still manages to hear him; her right ear twitches as though trying to pick up on the sound and when she hears him her smile twitches and almost fades completely. He wonders if she's mad at him and he hopes that he didn't say anything wrong, but the look on her face is telling him otherwise.

Her hand trails over to her stomach and stays there for a long second. "I'm kind of a brat, so everyone at home hates me."

Who in their right mind would hate someone like her?

The question remains unanswered. "When I'm at home I train a lot and study and cook and stuff..." She draws off; her pointer finger scratches her cheek and she looks away in thought. What did normal kids do for fun? "I think that's it, really."

"Are you alone?"

She hums. "Yeah, but I was born alone so it's nothing new."

"Do you have a mommy?"

She shakes her head. "No, she died when I was born. My dad did too."

Gaara stiffens.

She's alone.

She's completely alone without a mother or a father or any older siblings or an aunt or an uncle or even a simple caretaker to watch over her; if she's all by herself with no one to love or be loved by, then how is she so happy? Why is she able to smile and laugh and shine as brightly as she does? It feels wrong but he knows the smile on her face isn't fake and the mirth in her eyes is real, but he doesn't understand how.

He pauses.

Her long eyelashes flutter, she barely manages to suppress a yawn as it passes through her lips.

"Aren't you lonely?"

"Yeah,"

"Then how are you so happy? Doesn't your heart hurt?" He puts a hand on the left side of his chest and then reaches out with his other to feel for her heartbeat as well; his forehead crinkles, but his hand doesn't move once it's touched her. She doesn't pull away. "My uncle says that there's only one thing that can heal the heart, do you know what it is? It's love."

There's a long silence between the two before Naruto puts a hand over the one that's already resting on her chest, she holds the back of his hand with hers and grips it firmly. "Sometimes my heart hurts but I think that's okay, because knowing what it's like to be hurt makes us human. And yknow, I love myself. I love myself and I love the villagers and the ninjas and everyone who treats me badly. If I spent all of my time hating others, then I don't think I'd have any time left for myself."

"Being hurt... makes me a human?"

"Whenever someone hurts you and you deal with the pain that comes with it, doesn't it make you want to be kind to others so that they don't have to feel the same way? I think that knowing what it's like to be hurt, is what makes us try to be kinder to others." There's a part of him that's not sure what to do when she releases his hands and places both of her own on his cheeks, forcing him to give just a small smile. "I think that you might be the kindest of them all, Gaara."

There's nothing stopping the scarlet red blush that overwhelms his face.

Suddenly Gaara's not sure what to think or do or say or react and something inside of him roars with laughter and yells loudly in his ears; his head rings and echoes and it hurts/it hurts/it hurts. He grabs the sides of his head in pain and keels over; knees burying themselves deep into the sand and elbows soon follow, he screams and growls and repeats the same thing over and over again to the creature that only he can hear.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

She's worried; blonde eyebrows furrow as she reaches forward hesitantly to put a hand on his shoulder as though to comfort him. It doesn't work; his eyes aren't the same and the demon is taking over, there's nothing stopping him from hurting her. There's nothing stopping him from killing her, but he doesn't want that. He doesn't want her to go away he doesn't want to slowly crush her to death with his sand but he can't stop.

It won't stop.

Sand flies forward and wraps itself around her small body; it holds her up high above ground and suffocates her slowly by crushing her windpipe. She claws at her neck and the sand aggressively but only manages to dig her fingernails into the skin in her neck and it bleeds; the sand absorbs every drop greedily, and Gaara can only watch as his body moves without his permission.

He's killing his first friend.

He's killing the first person who took the time to talk to him.

Her head lulls to the side; she's still conscious, but she's calmed down. There's a tiny smile on her face as she reaches out once more to touch him; she's in pain and he knows that she's strong and he knows that she has weapons that could get her out of this situation, but not once has she made a move to grab them and free herself. Her fingertips graze against the side of his face before her whole arm falls limply to her side. "It's okay... Don't... Don't be... scared... You don't... have be alone anymore..."

He drops her.

Her lifeless body hits the ground.

Gaara decides that he's scared, but he's not sure why.

Maybe he's afraid of her; the girl who looked death in the face, smiled, and told him that everything was okay.

...

"I met a girl today, but I hurt her. I didn't mean to and it hurts, because I hurt her."

"Do you want to take her some medicine?"

"Okay."

...

He notices her bright blonde hair easily in a crowd.

It shines brightly while surrounded by the muted colors surrounding her; he watches her from a distance because right now he's not sure how to approach her.

He sees the bandages peering out from underneath her clothing and the way she walks with a limp dispite the crutches aiding her as she walks; it's understandable, yesterday he crushed her left leg and probiably cracked and broke a couple other bones too but her leg had been the worst. If anything right now she should be in bed and yet here she is, walking around in the middle of a busy street all alone with no one to aid her in case she needed help.

It's strange.

Yesterday he almost killed her; the attack that he used would've easily heavily injured an adult, and if he had gone any further than she'd be dead right now. Yet for some reason today she was walking around as though she wasn't a survivor of a murder attempt. She looks exactly the same as the day before; he sees the same big smile on her face and the mirth in her eyes as she enjoys watching the simplist of things. A pair of children playing on the streets, adults talking about meaningless things without sparing her a glance, and a peaceful atmosphere that seemed to be unfamilar to her.

She looks genuinely happy.

Injuries and attitude aside, Gaara enjoys the sight of her.

She's unique.

He's never seen anyone with hair as bright as hers or eyes as radiant; he wonders if everyone from Konoha looks like her, but somehow that idea seems impossible. She's probably special, or at least Gaara thinks so.

He knows that she's special.

She's careless and crazy and warm and -

She just walked into a wall.

It's hard for him to watch as she falls to the ground and then struggle to get back up again; she's off balance and clumsy and there's no one around to help her; the civilians don't seem to notice her, and not once does she look to anyone for help. She grabs at everything near her and eventually manages to get back up on her feet; she bends down shakily to grab her crutch, but it's obvious that she's only going to fall again. Gaara feels inclined to help, and uses a bit of sand to push the objects into her grasp.

She's confused, but only for a moment.

"Thanks!" She calls out in every direction, and he knows it's genuine just by listening to her.

Gaara wonders if maybe, she's an angel.

His lips stretch.

(Is it a smile? He's not sure.)

He decides that it wouldn't hurt to follow her around a bit longer; he trails her for the rest of the morning and by the time lunch comes around, hes hungry and she probably is too.

She finds a nice empty park that and claims it as her own as she finishes off a large canteen of water, and then picks at a granola bar but doesn't finish it. It's more of a snack than a meal but she seems to be content with it; he wonders if she always eats this way. It would definately explain why her clothing looked so big on her. He blinks, deciding not to think too much into it and instead approaches cautiously.

"I saw you fall."

"I swear I'm not clumsy! It's just hard to stay up on those damned things." She pouts, and turns to him with a smile. "Thanks for the help though, I'd probably be there still trying to get up if you didn't give me a hand."

"Why didn't you ask someone to help you?"

She shrugs. "People don't usually want to help me, so I don't bother them."

"Why do you help others?"

"Cause it's the right thing to do!"

"Would you help someone that wouldn't help you?"

"Of course. If I can love someone without them loving me back, then what's stopping me from giving a helping hand?"

"I'm sorry..." He shuffles through his pocket and hands her a bag of medicine; the first time he tried to help someone out they slammed the door in his face and ran away screaming, but here is is again. Here he is, offering his heart despite fearing that it might actually break this time. "I didn't mean... to hurt you."

She stares at him for a long second; he decides to close his eyes when she gets closer, fearing that she might actually hit him but she doesn't.

Her arms wrap around his neck and he feels her chin rest on his shoulder; she's hugging him. She whispers her thanks for his help earlier and hugs his sides so closely that he feels her warmth mingling with his own; she smells of cinnamon and something else that he can't really pick up on, and she nuzzles him in way that's unexpected.

She's hugging the person who just tried to kill her yesterday.

Gaara wonders if he's met an angel.

She releases him and steps back; there's a slight blush on her face and a big smile that reaches her eyes and he swears that he can see them sparkle. "It sucks that we got off on such a bad foot yesterday so lets start over." She shifts her crutches awkwardly to balance herself even as she reaches a hand out for him to shake. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto, but you can call me whatever you like. It's nice to meet you!"

"Sabaku... Sabaku Gaara." He takes her hand in his own.

He swallows dryly; he's a bit nervous and the words he wants to speak don't seem to want to come out easily. His angel is patient; she cocks her head to the side and her ears twitch as they wait for him to continue and for some reason the sight makes him a little shy. His face flushes slightly with the color pink and he looks down, shyly. "Do you... wanna go play?"

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Gaara wonders if this is what it feels like to be loved.

It's kind of addicting.

She doesn't let go of his hand as she leads him away and when she leaves her crutches behind and walks ahead with nothing more than a slight limp, he doesn't say anything. He swears that earlier she mentioned that she healed really quickly and the fact that she was just as right and bubbly as always after an attack that should've left her dead, is enough to have him believe her.

He stumbles in her footsteps as they turn the corner and the glares of the adults and children aren't as harsh when he has someone beside him.

It's nice.

"Oh great, the monster made a friend."

For a moment Gaara thinks that she'll keep walking, but she doesn't.

She stops dead in her tracks and pulls him behind her, as though to protect him from the disgusted gaze of the villager who called them out. "Mister, I think you're delusional. You're walking alone, all your friends are imaginary. Did you have too much to drink?"

With that she sticks her tongue out and they take off again, leaving the man flushed and stumbling over his words in attempt to find some sort of comeback for her sarcastic response. By then, they're long gone.

The park is just around the corner and mostly empty, save for a couple of children running around and playing on the playground.

"What do you like to do at the playground?"

He points to the swing; it's really the only thing he does whenever he's here, but he doesn't tell her that. Instead he takes the lead and sits down in the same swing he always uses, but this time the swing beside him isn't empty. Naruto plops down next to him; the smile on her face is rather thoughtful, she looks as though she's thinking about something.

"There's a swing in my village like this, it's right outside of the academy. I used to sit there alone and just watch everyone whether they were playing or going home with their parents... It's kinda nice, to swing with someone else." She turns her head to the side and scratches the side of her cheek, her smile is a bit smaller but it's still just as warm.

Gaara thinks it's kind of amazing that two people can be from two different places and experience the very same things.

It's kind of sad too.

"I come here a lot."

"To swing?"

He nods.

"Alone?"

He nods again.

There's a comfortable silence between the two before Gaara interrupts it.

"What's Konoha like?"

The blonde blinks, a slight hum escapes her mouth as she seems to spend the next ten seconds or so thinking about how to describe it the best. "It's a great country. There's a lot of nature and wildlife around and the village is always busy with people no matter what time it is; you should come to Konoha some time! I'll show you all my favorite spots, like the on top of the Hokage Mountain or in the woods where there's this super cool training spot that I like to go to."

A pause, she takes a deep breath.

"Ooo! I almost forgot! Ichiraku makes the best ramen in the world and they always give me a discount when I go by so you should come with me, my treat! I think that you'll like it in Konoha." She finishes with a curt nod, kicking a bit of sand with her foot. "I'd eat ramen every day for every meal if I could."

Her face mellows out. "It's a great place. I bet you'd make a lot of friends there."

"I don't need a lot of friends." He corrects, the slight purse of his lips doesn't go unnoticed.

She outstretches her hand and he does the same.

"Me either."

...

"Did she take the medicine?"

"Yeah, I think she's okay."

"How are you?"

"I don't think my heart hurts anymore either."

...

"Naruto," He tries, there's no response.

He wasn't really expecting one in the first place. It's three in the morning after all and she's fast asleep in the floor of the apartment she was renting for the week; he comes in through the window and rests himself against the windowsill. It's odd that she would leave the window unlocked and half open but somehow she seems like the type to be forgetful of the small things like that, he wonders if she forgot to lock the door too and if that was the case then he wonders if he should lock it for her.

She's fast asleep on the floor.

It doesn't even look as though she's attempted to reach the bed in the first place; she's surrounded by scrolls, books, and various other studying material used beforehand. There's ink on the side of her face and her clothing is a bit disheveled, she has a hand resting underneath her head and another over the side of her stomach. Her hair surrounds her head as though it were a halo, and her body curls in on itself as she rests.

Her chest rises and falls gently as she breathes, her lips part slightly.

Gaara catches more than what she normally shows. He sees the bags underneath her eyes, the bruises on her skin, the bandages hiding wounds, and the single tear that rolls down her cheek and leaves him confused. She's not reacting violently and her body doesn't move, he wonders if she's actually having a nightmare or if his eyes are playing tricks on him.

She sighs in her sleep and the tear trails down the side of her face.

Then she wakes up.

Her body shoots up and the tears brimming in her eyes trickle down her face; bright blue eyes blink them away, and the back of her hands erase them from existence and leave behind nothing but trails. Her eyes are slightly red and while she sniffles and rights herself, it takes her a long moment to notice his presence but that's understandable. She's still half asleep.

"Gaara?" Her head cocks to the side and her eyes quint ever so slightly; she rubs them a couple times, just to be sure. "Whaa... How long have you been here for?" She sounds like she needs a glass of water and he would get her one, but this is his first time visiting. He doesn't know where anything is.

He shrugs, averting his gaze slightly. "You were crying."

The slight tint on her cheeks doesn't go unnoticed. "I do sometimes."

"Is it because you're sad?"

"No," She shakes her head. "I don't think I'm sad at all, it's because I just think of sad things that don't matter anymore. I... I don't even remember what I was dreaming about." He wonders whether or not he should believe her but he doesn't know how to tell when she's lying, so he leaves it be.

She's fully awake now; the bags underneath her eyes aren't as easy to notice when she's awake, and she stretches out as much as she can before relaxing into a seated position. "Do you always sleep on the floor?"

The question makes her flush; she puts a hand behind her head awkwardly and scratches at her neck. "Not usually. I think I just fell asleep while I was studying and didn't feel like getting up again."

"What were you studying?"

She shrugs. "Lots of stuff. I like to split it up that way when I get bored with one subject too much, I can switch over to the next one. It's not that hard and if I finish it before I go back to Konoha then I won't have to worry about it later. It's like homework."

"For school?"

"Kinda," She hums. "I guess you could call it that. Anyway, what are you doing up so late?"

He's passive as he sits a couple of feet away from her; nervous about getting too close but also not willing to leave just yet. "I couldn't find my bed."

She grins, it's a small smile but there's humor in her eyes as they look at him gently. "Clearly."

"I have trouble sleeping at night; I decided to visit. Is it a bad time?"

She shakes her head. "Nah, there's never a bad time to visit."

He watches her as she stands and makes her way over to the kitchen area of the apartment; he watches quietly as she opens the refrigerator and pulls out a jug of milk, it's soon followed by two mugs and a pot that's placed on the stove. "Whenever I have trouble sleeping at night, I make warm milk." She holds the jug out for him to see and makes the very obvious motion of turning the burner on and pouring a good amount of milk into the small pot.

Oddly enough, he expected her to microwave it.

Instead she lets it warm up on the stove and mixes in a good dose of another ingredient, to which he raises his brow at. "It's cinnamon sugar. If you don't like it that's fine, but you've gotta try it at least!"

His nose twitches at the scent and she soon returns to his side with a white mug in her hands, he takes it from her gently. The steam tickles his nose and makes his stomach grumble just a bit, it smells delicious. There's nothing stopping the small smile spreading across his lips as he takes his first sip; the flavor dances on his tongue and warms his stomach, it's a good feeling.

Naruto drops a pillow beside him and another on her spot; she's dragged over a large blanket over as well, and even her own mug of cinnamon milk. It smells a bit different than his own, and he curiously leans over to smell it better.

She hands it to him. "Try it! I added a little bit of vanilla to mine."

He tries it.

It's delicious.

"You can have that one then, and I'll finish yours!"

He looks up from the milk that this angel had been kind enough to bless him with, surprised, for what reason was she being so kind to him when he literally broke into his house and woke her up?

She giggles.

"Gaara, you grew a mustasche!"

He points a finger accusingly at the milk just above her lip as well.

"You have one too."

The laughter that follows is loud enough for him to join in, and when they finish their milk she insists that he spend the night.

On the floor with a mess of pillows and blankets, two empty milk mugs, and enough warmth to melt ice; Gaara has his first sleepover.

He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Sabaku Gaara sleeps the night away.

...

It's upsetting to say the least to find out that Naruto was leaving.

She takes awhile to tell him and it's clearly hard for her to deal with as well; perhaps the way she packed her bags in the morning should've been enough for him to figure out what may or may not be going on, but a big part of him was in denial. She's been here for nearly two weeks and it feels as though it's far too early for her to leave; he doesn't want her to leave, and the thought that she has to is what makes the day go by five times faster than what it should've.

Gaara recalls waking up in the morning and enjoying the meager breakfast that Naruto had prepared for them both; she led him around by his arm and not once did she let go. They played at the park all day, ate lunch and bough snacks, played pranks on unsuspecting civilians, and laughed and giggled and ran around until they couldn't anymore.

He walks her to the gates and even offers to carry her bag, but she declines.

Uchiha Itachi is much more intimidating to meet in person; Naruto's explained multiple stories about him that were mainly focused on training, but for some reason he still wasn't sure to expect. The man stands high above their heads and looks down on them with bright red eyes that seem to scan the blonde over for any injuries or anything that might hinder their journey home.

Satisfied, he meets Naruto's energetic smile with a tired smile of his own.

There's a woman behind him, and next to that woman is a little boy who holds her leg shyly. Gaara wonders if they're family; he knows fully well that they're not Naruto's family.

"It would seem that anywhere you go, you are always making friends." He speaks smoothly; his eyes rest on the little red headed boy by her side, whom she still has her arm entangled tightly with. She doesn't look ready or willing to let him go, and instead holds him closer at the mention of their relationship. "I hope she hasn't annoyed you too much."

"Nonsense!" She roars, there's no anger in her voice but instead there's mirth in her eyes. "I'm the least annoying person in the world and you know it! This is Gaara by the way, he's just like me and we're best friends now!"

"I'm glad." He nods, and reaches out to shake the red head's hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Gaara."

He takes it shyly.

It's a warm feeling.

"I'm definitely gonna come visit again and if you ever visit Konoha you've got to let me know, okay?"

"Okay, I will."

There's one last hug, and just like that his angel is gone.

She's gone, but he'll hold onto the warmth until he can share it again.

That's a promise.

His heart kind of hurts but that's okay; he decides that the first thing he's gonna do when he gets home is write his first message, it might get there before she gets home but she'll still get it. There's the smallest of smiles on his face as he straightens himself out and runs home; the words of the other people around him fly past his ears and he pays them no mind.

They don't matter.

He doesn't care what they say, because the angel that visited Suna had chosen him and not them.

Yashamaru is concerned with Gaara bolts through the door with the intention or running right past his uncle but he's caught; the pale blonde man's eyebrows are knitted with worry and he bends down on both of his knees to talk to his nephew on his own level. "I was very worried about you, Gaara, you disappeared last night and didn't come home."

"Where were you?"

Gaara smiles.

"I had a sleepover at a friend's house."

"...What...?"