Naruto's eyes are twin tsunamis. Gaara can see them coming but can't run fast enough to get away -
not like he's trying, anyway. He lets the waves crash on him, rolling and rolling and dying in the current.
He can't understand Gaara. Any time he tries to get close to the redhead, Naruto finds himself alone in a swirling silence, the wind still whipping about where life had just stood.
He hopes Gaara is alive, at least. Sometimes he looks too tired to be real. Those days, Naruto knows he could kill him with one touch.
But today is not one of those days. Gaara has not fled from him, and instead glares at him through frozen eyes.
Naruto smiles, a shaky little thing. His fingers tremble at his sides. (Gaara is not assured by the blonde's nervousness. He begins to shake, himself.) When the blonde comes close, the air shimmers off their skins.
There are no words, really. Naruto is a wild thing, savage, and Gaara has been dead for a long time.
He supposes there is a connection between them, laying there with his head on Gaara's stomach. He could destroy the redhead, right here, right now - he wonders if it would romantic to rip open Gaara's stomach and steal his heart.
Of course, he's pretty sure Gaara has a dark spot in his rib cage, and that such an endeavor would be fruitless, but it's a comforting thought nonetheless. Two predators baring their throats.
He's drowning, surely. He can't breathe, he can't see, and all he can taste is quiet. His tongue is thick as he reaches down to grab Naruto's hair."Kiss me," he mumbles. Their dangerous pact is broken; his vocal chords rip from disrepair. They transcend brutality and attempt civility.
"Sure," Naruto croaks. There is blood around his mouth and cuts along his neck, but he presses split lips gently against Gaara's. The redhead's chest is closing up, pressure building in his eardrums;
white sparks. There is snow around them, but Gaara doesn't remember being cold. Naruto stands up stiffly, naked body sharp against the orange-gold-blue sky. His body is mottled with bruises.
"Well," the blonde mutters. Humility weighs down his shoulders, and Gaara knows they are building the past with every passing moment. He throws himself back onto the icy earth, his open legs an altar to things lost.
Naruto smiles again, but this time the tide has pulled his eyes away.
They avoid each other out of courtesy, sweeping glances and garbled greetings. Gaara is somewhere deep beneath the waves, sinking - he does not feel it anymore.
Then the tide comes back in, and they can't remember if it's been days or weeks or centuries, but this time the roar of the waves is loud. Naruto grins through his fangs, and Gaara knows they are caught in the riptide.
They don't try to swim away.
an: written for IXLoveXGaaraXNaruto. i really do not like Naruto anymore, but i owe her this ~~ plus it was a good experiment.
;_; i have a massive headache