A/N-Thanks loads to the lovely ReiXGaara that agreed to Beta this story, go check her stories out, they are wicked. Hope you enjoy this little one-shot.
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Circles in the sand
'This is a completely, pointless waste of a time,' Gaara thought to himself as he ran his fingers through the sand. The young kazekage felt wet, hot, itchy and worst of all- bored out of his freaking mind. The higher ups decided that he needed a vacation.
"You work too hard," they'd said, "You never take a day off," they'd said, "You recently died," they'd said. Well, boo-lousy-hoo. Yet the counsel voted on it, and it was twenty against one. He was left with no choice, he had to comply.
After three long days at the seaside with nothing to do but to watch his sister make out with Shikamaru, and his brother scare off little children, Gaara of the desert was ready to die again.
Golden sand poured out of his slander fingers, some of it fell back right down and some was carried away with the soft breeze. When all the sand was exhausted, Gaara helped himself for another handful. He has been doing this for the last half an hour, running sand through his fingers, and thoughts through his head. Not happy, beachside, sunny thoughts, but dark, gloomy, 'hate it but cannot get it out of my brain' thoughts.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gaara noticed a shadow creeping its way near. He smirked and with a smooth quick motion, he drew out a kunai and stabbed the moving shade.
"Ouch." came a low, sluggish voice "That was not nice." It was the Leaf chunin, Shikamaru. He just came out of the water, Temari at his side.
"Spying on people is also not nice." Gaara answered dryly.
Temari gave him an old sister's glare "I asked him to," she said. "You were playing with the sand, so I thought…."
"You thought wrong." Gaara growled, "I want you and your boyfriend to keep your shadows were they belong!"
"Man, stop being such an ass, your sister is worried, that's all." Shikamaru gave him a sympathetic smile, which made Gaara even more annoyed.
"Such a pointless waste of time." Gaara stood up and walked away from them. He could still hear them talking behind his back.
"Yeah, that went well…," said Shikamaru.
"All I wanted was to know if he can control sand again." Temari mumbled, "What was wrong with that?"
Shikamaru shrugged and then leaned over to give her a soft kiss.
It is good that Gaara was not there to see it anymore. All that smooching and groping drove him nuts. You are shinobi, people! You are fearless, brutal warriors! You are not supposed to suck face! Well maybe this is what a vacation is all about, such a lame idea.
Gaara paced on the shoreline, trying to get away from the sight of his sister making out with an enemy, again. No, useless, damage already done, burned forever into his brain.
He passed a small dune, thinking he will have his privacy there. No nosy shadows will follow him around. His steady pace came to a sharp halt. Oh. My. God. He gasped as he lifted his eyes. Permanent brain damage, wrap it up and call it a day.
On a big, blue towel, Neji and Tenten were lying. Their make out scene was long over; they were half way through the heavy petting scene and moving on. Tenten, who already lost the top of her bikini, squeaked with embarrassment. Mister 'I see it all, and nothing can surprise me' Neji, has already covered her strategic points, and smirked toward Gaara.
The Kazekage narrowed his eyes "What are you doing?" he asked slowly.
Neji snarled with arrogance "Well, Gaara, you see, when a boy and a girl like each other… They get naked and…"
"Stop it right there!" Gaara shouted. "I don't need to know!" As if he was a child. He knew exactly what they were doing; he just could not figure it out why they were doing it in public.
"Oh please…" Tenten giggled, "We are just having some fun, you know… it is a thing you do when you're on a holiday. You should try it, Gaara, it is… well… fun."
Do not kill them, Gaara kept reminding to himself. They saved your life only a week ago, so please, don't. "See you later." He said, after taking a deep breath.
"Later, dude." Neji replied, and soon was down to business again.
I cannot kill them. Gaara thought to himself as he walked on, I am not a demon anymore, and I should start acting like a human being. The only trouble was, Gaara had no idea were to start from. Maybe a conversation is a good start, He thought as he saw another familiar face ahead. Yes, a nice normal conversation, come on, Gaara, you can do it.
He came near the pink haired girl, who set on the breakwater and dipped her feet in the sea.
"Hey," she said to him.
"Hey," he said back, and had no idea how to continue, so he set down beside her and sulked.
Sakura did not make it easy on him; she kept her silence as well. It was some kind of a duel, who will surrender first? This was stupid.
"What is on your mind?" she finally took pity on him and spoke, Gaara could not be more grateful.
"Everything is fine; I really enjoy this punishment… I mean, establishment we stay in. Don't you think our hotel is something else?"
Sakura smiled with warmth. "Tomorrow we go back, Gaara, so why not try to have fun with the little time we've got left?"
Here is that word again, 'fun', everybody surly loved using it, bragging about it, as if it is some kind of an achievement. "I am having fun." Gaara tried a smile. He was not fooling anybody, mainly not Sakura, who sighed softly.
"Some how…I don't think so."
"I am sorry, Sakura. I will try harder."
"That is were you are wrong, see? You should ease down, relax, unwind…."
"Yeah, yeah, got the idea! Main problem is- I suck at it!"
Sakura smirked, "Well, maybe you should find somebody to help you with it."
"Sakura!" came a deep voice, oddly familiar. Gaara turned his head toward it. "Sakura!" There it came again. A man was running toward them, a man in a tiny purple swimsuit, a man holding a pink Popsicle and swinging it around, a man that was his older brother. Gaara was going red as his hair. "Sakura!"
"Stop it, stupid." The kunoichi giggled, "Stop screaming, you made that little girl cry!"
Gaara deliberated whether he should drown himself or burry himself in the sand.
"Sorry, Sakura, they didn't have cherry flavor, so I got you a strawberry flavor. Is that ok with you, honey?"
"Sure, sweetie, that's fine."
Honey? sweetie? Has every last one of them lost his mind?
Kankuro gave Sakura the Popsicle. This was not Gaara imagination. His brother really was looking at her like some lovesick puppy. And she? She melted faster then that pink colored ice. Gaara could not stay there anymore. He mumbled his excuse and got out of there. This was a lost battle, He will never figure out humans, not now, not ever.
oOOo
"He is such a pain…," said Neji, stretching and embracing Teneten in that process.
"Yeah, we all came here for him, and what does he do? Acting like this was kind of a torture." Tenten agreed. "He's taken the fun out of everything."
"We gave up some precious days here." Sakura said, worried "Don't forget, we still have to go and catch the Akatsuki spy."
"We should be after Sasuke, you know…," growled someone, which was Naruto.
"I am sorry we dragged you all here." said Temari, head down in embarrassment, "at the time, we thought this was a good idea." Yes, she was one of the 'Hai' voters.
"We didn't know Gaara was going to depress us to death," said her younger brother.
"Oh, this is going to be troublesome…" Shikamaru stated as he spotted Gaara approaching through his half closed eyes.
Gaara came back from the store with a basket full of food. He thought he could make a nice fresh start by offering the guys a picnic, but he could not ignore the conversation that was going on. They looked at him, he looked at them, and awkwardness was wobbling around them like a quacking duck.
"Nobody forced you to come here," said Gaara, big emphasis on the "you" part. He placed the basket on the golden sand, and walked away again. Blank expression was on his face, but they all knew what it meant.
"Go after him." Temari commanded Kankuro.
"Why me?"
"You are his brother."
"And you are his sister."
"Yeah? but you were nastier than me."
"You should go, Sakura." offered Tenten generously "You are his best friend, no?"
"Aren't we all? So why don't you go?"
"This is such a mess." Shikamaru yawned and closed his eyes again.
"It is all your fault, you know!" Temari was still scolding her brother.
"What did I do now?" He whined
"Shut up! All of you!" Naruto got up on his feet "I'll go."
They all looked at the brave blonde, as he volunteered to that S-ranked mission. Thanks were said without words. Naruto sent a hand to his spiked blond hair, and scratched the back of his head; he took a deep breath and walked on.
Gaara knew how to disappear when he wanted to. Where was that brat? Oh, there he was, at the water's edge, throwing shells around, aiming to hit unsuspecting seagulls.
"Yo, Gaara!" Naruto waved wildly at the other boy much to his annoyances.
"Go away." said the redhead, smirking as he hit a bird. The seagull flew away, complaining angrily.
"What is eating you, idiot?"
"I am not talking to you."
"Yes you are. You just did." Gaara smiled in spite of himself, he picked up another shell not sure if to aim it at another bird or at Naruto. "Come on, Gaara, tell me what's going on."
Something in the boy's blue eyes convinced the Kazekage to comply. "I am sorry for ruining your fun." Whatever that meant. "I didn't do it on purposes."
Naruto offered him a smile that gave the sunshine a serious competition "It's not like that Gaara, they are just worried for you, that's all." But Gaara frowned again. As much as he wanted other people to care for him, he never wished for someone's worry. "You can calm them down, you know, it's easy. Just go there, do some small talks, joke a little, if you don't know any jokes I can teach you some. Let's see… ohm… what is the different between the Akatsuki leader and ramen?"
"Don't know, what is it?"
"You can't spike ramen enough."
It took Gaara few seconds to figure it out, then he let out a pathetic smile. "It's lame."
"Yeah…well… but in the right mood they will eat it up. You'll see, you just have to put them in the right atmosphere first and then…."
"Seems like, you know loads about humans," said the young Suna nin with a low voice.
Naruto looked at him stunned and his expression became sheepish "Hehehe…" he laughed, scrubbing the back of his head."What's wrong with you, baka, we are all humans, ne?"
"No we are not, not you and me, not with a demon inside of us… although my demon is gone now…and I don't know who I am anymore."
"You are Gaara of the desert, dumbass."
Gaara sighed and glared at the blonde boy, how could some one be so smart and so stupid at the same time? A sudden rush of feeling went through the young Kazekage, at first confusion, a second later, anger, and for the grand finally, despairs. No one can understand him, not even Naruto. He still has that demon fox in him, which gives him power to protect his people. Gaara had nothing anymore, he was useless, a liability, a complete waste of Naruto's time.
"Fuck off, will you?" Gaara said to the still smiling, orange clad shinobi. "Leave me alone!"
The red haired teen stated to leave, not seeing the hurt on Naruto ho so expressive face. Naruto could not understand why Gaara was acting like a bastard, almost Sasuke like. Why did he deserve to be treated that way? Every time he showed some good intentions. Well, good intentions his ass…. "Gaara, Yo! Where are you going?"
"Away… away from you all. Tell Temari they need to find a new Kazekage, and tell Kankuro he can have my office. " Kankuro did had an eye for it for a long time.
"Stop, you crazy screw up!" Naruto almost ran, to catch up with Gaara quick pace. That damn tall teen and his ridicules long legs. "Where the fuck are you going?"
"As I said, away." take just one lousy hint, won't you?
"You little piece of…" Naruto gave his famous growl; his anger led him from chasing to tagging.
"Let go." commanded Gaara, when his shirt threatened to be ripped.
"No."
"Let go or…"
"Or what?"
"Or I will beat the crap out of you." mature, Gaara noted to himself, so very mature.
"You think you can beat me up, jerk? I will kick your ass to next Tuesday!"
"Yeah? I will kick you sorry ass to next Friday!" replied Gaara, again, so mature.
Soon enough, the two found themselves wrestling senselessly for any passers-by to see. Punching and kicking each other, they did not notice people gathering around, starting to randomly take sides and cheer accordantly. Naruto and Gaara took the fight into the water, both fully dressed, and they try to drown one another.
"You ungrateful fuck!" shouted Naruto.
"You nosy kook!"
"Emo-brat!"
"Monster!"
That last remake, hit Naruto straight in the guts, Gaara almost instantly regretted it. He had no chance to apologize though; as a well aimed, chakra reinforced fist blew at his jaw. Then it all went black and he plunged under the water.
"Gaara, oh shit!" Naruto hissed with frustration, that damn brat was so charismatic and controlling, that Naruto nearly forgot how weak he was at that time. The leaf nin took a dive right after him, grabbed him by his red hair and pooled him to shore. "I am so sorry…" He mumbled to his unconscious friend. He made his way through the curious crowd and laid Gaara gently on the sand. The first thought through his mind was – it's good that Kakashi sensei taught them CPR "That perv was good for something, after all…" Naruto mumbled. He pressed his hands onto Gaara's chest, starting to massage his heart. That was not working, he thought, 'oh well, no one here knows me anyway…' He sighed and leaned towards the redhead. Their lips locked together, his warm ones against Gaara's cold ones. Naruto breathed life into him, while thinking 'Come on, Gaara, this is not the way to end this argument…'
Few more respirations attempts and never-ending embracement after, Gaara arched violently, coughing out salty water. Green eyes met Blue.
"Hehehe…" Naruto chuckled sheepishly "welcome back, baka."
Gaara ran his eyes at all the strangers that surrounded them, and glared at them so bluntly.
"Show is over, folks!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs, "now beat it!"
Cannot afford to ignore the murder in his eyes, every last one of them fled out of sight, but with dignity.
oOOo
A moment of silent passed between them and then "I am sorry" they said at the same time.
"I am sorry for calling you a monster." Gaara said.
"I am sorry about that punch."
"Good style there…"
"Thank, well?"
"What?"
"Will you tell me now, why where you running away?"
Gaara frowned, was it not that obvious? "I don't know, Naruto, I am not my old self anymore and I have no new self to fill the void, so I guess… I am not making any sense, am I?"
"It's ok, I understand. You lost some major part of your personality definition, so it is only natural to have some sort of an identity crisis. It is only logical…" Gaara could feel the bugs, entering his wild open mouth, taking the grand tour and exiting with luxury. "Why are you glaring at me?"
"Because… Naruto, I… fuck it!"
"Gaara, even if you become weak, ordinary, plain boring civilian, we will still love you, you know." Naruto's blue eyes shone with sincerity "you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because…uhm… well… because we will."
"Stupid blonde." Gaara smiled and sighed at the same time. "You're not really helping here. Tell me, what am I worth without the demon, huh? I can't control sand any more, I cannot fend for my people anymore. I am absolutely pathetic!"
"You are not pathetic." Naruto's voice was dangerously low. "So stop feeling so sorry for yourself! I'll tell you what you are. You are fucking lucky, you know! You are one of them, now! And they will never, ever look at you weird again! So stop it, Gaara, ok? I would take your place, anytime!"
That's it! Gaara thought, as warmth passed though him, despite his wet clothing. He leaned over to the unsuspecting blonde and assaulted him with a passionate kiss.
"What are you doing?!?" Naruto gave a surprised yelp.
"Something I should have done long ago," replied Gaara with husky voice and then he pressed back his lips to the bloned's sweet ones. He was so relieved to find Naruto leaning his body over to him, in a very cute, willing way. 'So this is how it feels to be human,' Gaara wondered as the kiss heated up, and as the public was drawn to the scene once again.
"There you guys are!" said a female voice, Sakura.
"What have you been doing here for so long?" asked Temari, annoyed.
"Hey, guys, check this out…" Pointed out Shikamaru, lazy hand lifted up.
They all gasped, eyes nearly popping out of there holes. Behind the kissing couple, was an enormous, gigantic column of a sand storm, swirling a mile high.
oOOo