Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything =D

If you've got this far then well done. No sarcasm at all, I actually mean it.

The possibility for a series is still there. Man, I love these two ^^ They're fast becoming one of my favourite Naruto pairings, although KakaIru and SasuNaru are still ftw.

For anyone who's interested, the song that Kiba sings is called "Sum Of Us" and the version that I took the lyrics from is sung by Richard Fleeshman, although I suspect it may be a cover. But it's still a damn fine thing to listen to, and I strongly recommend it for lazing around on a warm day. Or a cold day. In fact, it's good for any day.

Gaara knew for certain that three things were absolutely true:

1. Uzumaki was the most irritating thing he'd ever encountered. The rest of the Konoha shinobi were fools, sure, but he was the biggest fool of all.

2. He was obsessed with a song for a totally ridiculous reason.

3. Kiba Inuzuka was the last person he wanted to find himself around. So, of course, the shinobi was currently knocking at his door.

It was all just way too complicated. If he hadn't decided to take a walk at that precise moment, all those weeks ago, he wouldn't be in this mess.

~***~

It was too hot indoors.

No, actually, it wasn't the heat – a lifetime in the desert meant that he'd become accustomed to high temperatures. It wasn't even the stuffiness, not really. What – or rather who – was currently driving him insane was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, leaf genin, Hokage wannabe and noisy little–

"Hey guys! Guys! Look! I managed to modify the ninja centrefold! I think this version's even better! Watch!"

At this point, Gaara stood up and left. He had no desire to be surrounded by choking pink smoke whilst having a huge pair of breasts shoved in his face. Sliding the door shut behind him, he lifted his face up towards the sun, closing his eyes and letting the rays bathe him in warmth. It was a nice day, the smell of grass filled his nose as he stood for a while, observing the birds perched in the branches of the trees. Behind him, he heard yells – presumably signalling that Naruto's transformation had been successful.

God, they were all just so noisy!

Because of this, Gaara decided that he might as well just take a walk, as hopefully that way he would get some peace and quiet. Besides, it would be a shame to waste the weather. Deciding to leave his gourd behind – he doubted he would need it and it was pretty damn heavy to carry around all the time – he walked out onto the dirt track that led down to the river. Perhaps he would stop on the bridge and watch the water for a while. He quite liked doing that.

He was almost there when something made him stop.

Somewhere up ahead, music was playing.

Even though it was very unlikely to be an ambush – what enemy would announce themselves in such a manner? – the desert nin was still cautious as he crept forward, making sure to keep to the shadows. As he drew closer, he found that he could see two figures sitting underneath a large oak tree.

"OK, so now put your fingers here…"

"Like this?"

Immediately, he recognised the voices as belonging to Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuga. Both of them were cradling guitars in their laps. Apparently he had just stumbled across a music lesson.

"Right, and now strum…no, that one…yeah, that's it. You're picking this up pretty quickly, Hyuga. I'm impressed. Guess you're a genius after all."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I reckon I can practice on my own for a bit now, so I'm going back to the house." The long-haired jounin stood. "Are you coming?"

"Nah. With the amount of sugar Naruto ate earlier, he's probably bouncing off the walls by now. Besides, it's nice out here. Think I'll stay a while longer."

"See you later then." With these parting words, Neji picked up the wooden instrument and began to walk in Gaara's direction. Just when Gaara had thought he'd passed without seeing him, he heard the Hyuga say, "If you're planning to kill him, I suggest you wait until after he's finished teaching me. It'd be annoying if my playing had to stop because my teacher was dead."

Gaara made no effort to reply, so Neji merely continued walking until he had rounded the corner and the trees obscured him from sight. When he was sure he was alone again, Gaara returned his attention to Kiba, who was now sitting with his back to the tree's trunk, strumming idly.

Actually, Gaara had vague memories of seeing people playing guitars prior to this occasion. He even thought he remembered Kankuro offering to teach him once, long ago. However, he'd declined the offer, having no interest in learning how to play music.

But then, at that time, he'd never heard music that sounded like this.

Gradually, the separate chords were merging together, becoming a tune that merged with the sunlight and the breeze to create a feeling that he hadn't experienced before.

And that was before Kiba had even opened his mouth.

What was this song? It seemed familiar, and yet he was sure that he'd never heard it before. His pulse was picking up with every word sung in that slightly hoarse voice. Why was that? It didn't make any sense. He hoped he wasn't coming down with something.

"These four hours drag on like an eternity, and time feels like you do, keeps on slipping away from me. When I see you the world can't stop making sense…"

No…it wasn't that he was ill…it was this song. It was this song sung in this voice. It was making him feel…strange. Too strange. He had to leave, before…

…well, that was it. He wasn't sure what he would do. But he was certain that it wouldn't be anything good.

He left as quickly as keeping silent would allow, but the words seemed to follow him past the point where he knew that Inuzuka should be way out of earshot.

"And I don't mind it, and I don't mind it if it don't all add up, and I don't mind it, because nothing could take away from the sum of us…"

~***~

And now here Kiba was…standing outside his closed door (as if that wasn't enough of a hint), asking to please be let in. Saying he wanted to talk to him about something.

After what had been said, he really didn't want to see the other shinobi right now.

So why was it that he found himself turning off that song, getting up, unlocking the door and letting him in?

Thanks for taking the time to read this =) If you want to find out what happened after the opening of the door, then you can read my story 'Close', which is lurking somewhere on my page. Although I guess by saying that I've kind of given the pairing of it away... ^^'