Gaara woke to silence and an empty room. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember where he was and what had happened. He remembered leaving Suna and heading to Konoha. There was his first mistake, traveling alone. Then he had gotten ill when he had left the desert and entered forest. Another mistake, not getting help and continuing on.

The rest was a hazy blur. He could vaguely recall traveling through the forest and flatlands that surrounded Konoha. For the life of him though, he could not figure out why he had gotten sick. He racked his brain for every possibility and all he got was a headache. Then, to make things worse, he had run straight into Sasuke at the gate leading into the village. The Uchiha had easily beaten him, much to Sasuke's surprise.

Then Naruto had intervened, to everyone's surprise. He recalled being carried by the leaf nin, then black. When he had awoken the first time, Naruto was trying to help him, and he had tried to hurt him. A pang of guilt ran through him and he shivered slightly.

At least he knew where he was now, this must be Naruto's house. It certainly didn't look like any hospital he had ever seen, so this was one mystery solved. He groaned. His headache was growing worse. He lifted his hands to his forehead, noticing his arms and torso were bandaged as he did.

Tired of just laying on his back staring at the ceiling, Gaara rolled over and began to push himself into a sitting position. As his back and chest arched, a pain ripped through him. He barely bit back a cry, and a gasp escaped his lips. He curled into a ball, cursing his weakness and damning Sasuke to hell. When the pain had receeded, he slowly sat up and looked at the room he was in. The room was small and sparsely furnished. Naruto's signature orange jacket was draped over a chair sitting next to the single window. Ramen cups were scattered here and there, but otherwise the room was neatly kept.

He slid to the side of the bed and put one foot on the floor, sucking in his breath at the cold. He lowered his other foot and tried to stand. The sand, as it always had, came to his aid, supporting him so he could move to the window.

The sun had just begun to crest the tops of the buildings and houses of Konoha. Birds twittered in the trees and Gaara closed his eyes. He had never heard anything this quiet in the morning. Night was so lonely and quiet and Suna people were always up before the sun rose, to escape some of the intense heat.

His strength quickly gave out and, had it not been for the sand, he would have fallen. He all but collapsed into the chair Naruto's jacket was hanging from, holding his head in his hands. A headache was spreading throughout his skull and Shukaku was raging slightly.

After a few minutes of this, he heard a gentle tapping on the door. He lifted his head to see who it was. A second later, it opened and Naruto poked his blond head through.

"Ah! Good morning, Gaara!" he sadi giving Gaara a bright smile. Gaara put his head back in his hands.

Naruto pushed the door all the way open and revealed a tray in his hands. On the tray was a pair of scissors, a bottle of antiseptic, several rolls of guaze bandages, and a bowl of small red fruits Gaara had never seen before.

"How do you feel?" he asked, concern leaking into his voice and his normally grinning face. Gaara groaned in response.

Frowning, Naruto put the tray down on his bed and put a hand on Gaara's still warm forehead. Gaara looked up from his hands to see him. Naruto was dressed in a tight black shirt and his traditional orange sweatpants. His feet were bare and his leaf headband was gone, allowing his blonde hair to fall into his azure eyes. Gaara could feel his face getting red and quickly diverted his attention. His gaze fell on the fruits.

"W-what are those?" he asked quietly, his voice not wanting to work.

"You mean you've never had a strawberry before? Their like the best things in the world! Well, besides Ramen of course. Eh...Gaara? Do you feel alright? Your face is red."

Gaara nodded and Naruto handed him the bowl. He nibbled cautiously at the end of one. Finding it to be delicious, he quickly finished it.

"Good, eh?"

He nodded and picked up another. Naruto had a few, and soon they were all gone. Gaara wiped the sticky red juice off his chin and handed the bowl to Naruto. He set it aside and picked up the scissors. Gaara flinched visibly, thinking Naruto was going to hurt him with them. Naruto saw his reaction and quickly tried to calm him.

"No, Gaara! I'm not going to hurt you! Your bandages need to be replaced is all!"

Gaara relaxed but still looked wary of the leaf nin.

"Trust me, 'kay?" Naruto held out his hand to help Gaara out of the chair. Gaara hesitated, then accepted.

When he was standing, he let go of Naruto's hand and attempted to take a step. He wavered, and slipped sideways. Expecting to hit the hard floor, he was surprised to fall into Naruto. Not used to close physical contact, he began squirming, trying to get away.

"Gaara! Hold still! I don't wanna drop you!" yelled Naruto, as he came close to being hit in the face.

Gaara fell still, realizing how silly he was being. Naruto helped him stand and he looked rather embarassed with himself. He sat down on the bed, keeping his gaze fixed on the blanket in front of him. Naruto began unwrapping the bandage on his left arm, watching his reaction the entire time. Gaara made no notion that he even acknowledged the action.

Only when Naruto had fully removed the bandage did Gaara look at his arm. When he saw, he hissed in anger and the sand whirled about the room.

A long gash ran down his arm, still oozing blood. There was a number of other scrapes, cuts and bruises, but this was the most disturbing. Gaara winced hugely as the air came into contact with it and it stung and throbbed. Tears sprang into his eyes and he quickly looked down, hoping Naruto wouldn't see his emotions. If he did see, Naruto said nothing. Instead, he stood up and picked something up from the tray he had placed on the bed earlier.

Gaara looked up to see what it was. It was a needle and thread. He looked at Naruto, then at his arm, and then at Naruto again.

"Great..." he mumbled.

"Yeah...um...I tried to do it while you were asleep, but the sand kept blocking me. Can you keep it from doing it so you won't lose your arm?"

"When did you become a med nin?" snapped Gaara, not wishing to be stabbed repeatedly by a piece of pointed metal.

"Well, Ero-sennin taught me some, and Sakura helped out a lot."

Gaara dropped his head and sighed. He lifted his arm slightly, a silent permission for Naruto to help him. Naruto smiled reassuringly and sat next to Gaara. Naruto felt the sand nin tense as he placed the tip of the needle at the lip of the wound.

"Please relax, Gaara. I can't do this if you're as stiff as a piece of wood. Besides, it'll hurt more if you don't."

Gaara looked at him sideways and complied. Naruto could see the sand swirling around the floor, obviously confused.

Naruto quickly pushed the needle through the skin nearest the wound. Gaara gasped loudly and lurched away from him, the sand wrapping itself around Naruto's wrist and constricting. Narutostoppped, gently pulling Gaara back toward him by an uninjured portion of his arm. The sand slowly receeded, and Naruto continued.

Slowly, stitch by stitch, the wound on Gaara's arm was closed. Naruto looked up occasionally between stitches to make sure Gaara was okay. The tanuki had his eyes shut, lips mumbling something Naruto couldn't make out. The sand drifted over the floors, the walls, the bed, jerking when a wave of pain washed through Gaara. It crawled over his skin, warning him to try to harm Gaara. He ignored it, knowing Gaara didn't have total control of the sand.

Finally, he tied off the last one and Gaara visibly relaxed, almost falling over. The sand fell to the floor, reflecting Gaara's exhaustion.

"What did you tell it?" asked Naruto as he began to wrap the newly stitched wound with gauze.

"That...it...was a good...pain," said Gaara slowly, between breaths, "It confused it enough...for you..." He closed his eyes and shifted slightly.

"Hey, don't go to sleep on me!"

Gaara opened one eye. "I can't, you know that."

"It was a joke, you look ready to pass out."

Naruto pushed him back up and rewrapped the rest of Gaara's torso and his lower legs. Afterwards, he made them both lunch, miraculously having something for Gaara other than Ramen.They ate in mostly silence, Naruto occasionally popping in a question or two for Gaara.

"Gaara?"

"Hn?"

"I have to go meet Kakashi-sensei and the others for training. Do you want to come- I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I would like it if you did, and well-"

"Naruto."

Naruto stopped his ramblings and looked up at Gaara. There was a playful light dancing in the nin's eyes, something Naruto had never seen in him before. A smile was tugging at his lips.

"You talk too much."

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrasment.

"Well, you don't talk enough, so it evens out."

Gaara chuckled quietly and allowed Naruto to help him stand. Naruto tossed him a long sleeved shirt to hide the bandages and he carefully pulled it on. They were almost ready, when-

"Gaara? Do you need your gourd?"

Gaara thought for a moment, then shook his head no. Naruto opened the door and supported Gaara on his shoulder. He locked it, and the two jinchuuriki walked out into the bright streets of Konohagakure.