...Iiiit's a series. Hell yes ^^ Thank you to Banana Ocean for the review - as I said, one review was all it took. This is not a conventional pairing. But I have fun =D
The two idiots yelling at Gaara are a reference to me and one of my friends. THIS DID ACTUALLY HAPPEN. Only, you know, without the Gaara *A* (that makes me sad...) We were trying to remember the reasons why we said Gaara was cranky.
(1. He doesn't sleep.
2. He's got sand in his pants.
3. He has constant backache from the gourd.
4. He's sexually frustrated)
(Number four was an amendment added by yours truly. Man, we're such fools... XD)
But yep, here it is! And it's quite long! (Don't expect any other chapters to be this long, anyone who's readings this... ¬_¬)
The little piece of wordless music Kiba plays is 'Face (Her)' by Newton Faulkner. It is 40 seconds long :)
And the second song is 'White Lies' by Paolo Nutini (hence the title) because I think that he has a Kiba-ish voice. Although that may well just be me ^^;
"He's so creepy…"
"Too right…what a frightening expression…"
Hearing the two female voices, Kiba looked over to see what – or who – they were talking about. His eyes fell almost immediately on Gaara of the Desert, who was lounging on the grass with a huge grin on his face. It was a little sinister; especially when you considered that a smile from Gaara usually meant imminent death.
Wonder what he's thinking about…
~*~
Buy me a new pair…ha…
Gaara wanted to laugh aloud at the memory, but instead managed to contain the urge in a wide smile.
~*~
As Kiba watched the sand nin, steadily becoming more and more intrigued by his enigmatic expression, two more girls came walking past. He'd learnt from experience that girls, strange excitable creatures – this particular pair were no exception – seemed to find travelling in groups preferable to walking by themselves. The Konoha shinobi had never really understood this mindset, but he had observed it enough times to let it pass without too much thought. He watched with limited interest as the two chattered inanely, before one – a petite redhead – stopped and stared at Gaara intently. The other – larger and brunette – halted too, a quizzical expression on her face.
"Hey, what's–?"
Almost immediately, a look of sudden realisation crossed the face of the smaller girl. She pointed a finger at the Kazekage and cried triumphantly, "HE'S GOT SAND IN HIS PANTS!!!"
A stunned silence followed this announcement, during which both Gaara and the girl's friend stared at her, until the brunette started laughing hysterically.
"That was it! THAT WAS IT!!!"
What. The. Fuck.
It seemed like Gaara shared the same sentiment – he was looking after the retreating pair with a thoroughly confused expression on his face.
~*~
…the hell…?
That was, hands down, the weirdest thing he'd ever had yelled at him. It was almost worth getting up and following the girls to find out what they'd meant.
But, on the other hand, the grass was soft and the sun was warm. It would be a shame to move when he'd just about got comfortable. Plus eventually Kiba might stop watching from a distance and actually come over and talk to him.
That would be nice.
Complicated and awkward as fuck, but nice.
~*~
Kiba chewed his lip absentmindedly as he watched Gaara lay back down, arms crossed underneath his head. The smile had gone, but his face was smooth as he closed his eyes, soaking up the warmth of the late summer afternoon. Next to him, Akamaru let out a soft growl and Kiba leant down to scratch his head. "It's alright," he told the dog, who merely growled again, louder, disputing this view. "He won't hurt us."
It was obvious by now that Gaara liked him. On more than one occasion, he'd seen the sand shinobi watching him with a curious expression on his face, turning away red-cheeked when he'd realised that he'd been caught out. This didn't mean that they'd been speaking any more than usual – Gaara was still as antisocial as ever, but he'd been sitting a little closer to the group of late and although he didn't input anything to the conversation, he listened quietly, reacting occasionally in barely perceptible ways.
Kiba noticed. He wished he could say that it was due to his heightened senses, but actually he'd been doing his fair share of watching. Maybe more than his share. And what was more, to his chagrin, he found himself liking what he saw.
The tattoo in particular interested him no end. He found his eyes being constantly drawn to it, half-hidden under red-brown bangs. When had he got it done? Had it hurt? Why that character in particular?
Love…
This feeling. It wasn't love, he knew that. At the moment, it was more sort of attraction mixed with intrigue, but the potential was there. He knew this because, over a fortnight on, he still regularly thought back to that afternoon telling jokes, Gaara's laugh and the warmth of his smile.
Up until now, there hadn't been any more smiles. But the Kazekage's expression had been softer than usual. Less remote. However, any attempts to catch him alone had been met with sudden disappearances, so eventually Kiba had stopped trying, deciding instead to sit outside with his guitar and see whether inspiration would strike.
That was what he'd been doing today. But this time, Gaara had found him.
Maybe it was accidental, simply the result of chance, but about half an hour after he'd sat down, Akamaru had started to kick up a fuss. Annoyed at the interruption, Kiba had glanced up to see the boy settling on the grass a hundred metres or so away, in the process of untangling his headphones. He was alone – this was not unusual. But he was also smiling slightly and this was unusual. So unusual, if fact, that from that point onwards (going on forty minutes now) he'd simply been staring, guitar forgotten, at the peaceful expression on the young ninja's face. Several times he'd almost got up to walk over and sit next to him, but a) he was worried that Gaara might just disappear again, or fix him with the cold stare he was famous for, and b) he wasn't convinced that he would deal with being around the shinobi very well. So, in the end, he remained where he was.
Now, he closed his eyes, trying to calm his heartbeat and breathing. When he opened them again, Gaara had gone.
Well, that's one problem solved, he thought, trying to suppress the pang of disappointment in his chest. Sighing, he picked up the guitar again.
"Play something," commanded a voice to his right, and he looked up to see the sand ninja next to him, casually leaning against the tree as if he'd been there all along. Kiba wasn't fooled.
"You're a fast mover," he said, raising an eyebrow, feeling his pulse stutter a little before it continued as normal. The other boy stared at him for a moment, before nodding towards the instrument in his lap.
"I'd like to hear you play."
This sentiment was unexpected and Kiba looked at him in surprise. Gaara looked just as taken aback by what he'd said, but he quickly rearranged his features into an apathetic expression.
~*~
Fuck. He hadn't meant to say that.
Actually, he hadn't meant to come over at all.
For the past couple of weeks, he'd been deliberately avoiding situations where he'd find himself alone with the Konoha nin. Spending time in a group was fine – he could just sit quietly and watch the goings on without anything being expected of him. But if they were alone…
Gaara still didn't fully understand the emotion that Kiba instigated whenever they were together, but he knew enough to comprehend that it wasn't normal. And also that it most likely wasn't reciprocated. This realisation should have been the end of it, but instead he had been persistently drawn to the chunin, finding reasons to be around him, but never just him. Never alone, never for longer than necessary and definitely never somewhere where things could get out of hand. Those were his three rules for this situation, and today he'd broken them all.
No, not just broken. He'd shattered them.
Firstly, he'd followed Kiba when the shinobi went out, clutching his beloved guitar. Not openly of course – he wasn't stupid. No, he'd been as discreet as possible, turning up at least thirty minutes afterwards so that he could claim coincidence. At least one of his rules breached right off the bat. He'd known that the boy would be alone, with just Akamaru for company, because he'd overheard Neji saying that he was too busy with training to have a music lesson. And he'd also known that Kiba would head for a quiet, shady area where he could practice undisturbed. Sure, a few people walked by from time to time, but it could hardly be described as crowded.
Now, by staying for almost three quarters of an hour, he had violated the second rule.
The third rule, although definitely stretched by the remote surroundings, could still have been upheld. People were around, he could hear them chattering. Even though they weren't present constantly, it wasn't like they were cut off from the world.
It was only at this moment – with intense and confused brown eyes staring up at him, a small drop of blood forming on a bitten lower lip – that he realised the full extent of his mistake.
Having people around didn't make it less likely that the situation would get out of hand. Neither did being in a public place. In fact, it was all he could do right now not to launch himself at the other boy and…
…And what? Attack him? No, not attack…
Wait.
Oh God.
There was no way.
~*~
Kiba looked at the desert ninja suspiciously. His fists were clenched so hard that his nails were cutting into his palms – Kiba could smell the blood. Akamaru whined next to him, reminding him that he wouldn't be the only one in danger should Gaara lose control right now.
"Are you OK?" he asked cautiously, preparing himself to fight if need be. The other shinobi closed his eyes briefly, letting out a shuddering breath, before fixing him with a jade-green stare.
"I'm fine." The strain in his voice belied these words. "Just play."
Too weird. "Um…alright. What do you want to hear?"
"Anything." Closing his eyes again, Gaara slid down the trunk to sit at the bottom of the tree, keeping – Kiba noticed – a safe distance between them. He was grateful for this, but also a little put out. The other's fists were still clenched, although not quite as tightly. Taking this into account, the Konoha nin racked his memory for a song that would hopefully soothe him a little. At the same time, though, he didn't want to play anything that the sand nin might read into, which therefore ruled out almost all of the songs he knew. Desperately, he thought even harder until, finally, he remembered a short piece of music from an album someone had lent him. He had liked it so much when he first heard it that he'd spent a few days learning it, even though it was pretty complicated. Better yet, it didn't have any words, so it couldn't be taken the wrong way.
Perfect.
With once last glance at Gaara, he started to play.
As the notes mingled with the warm air, Kiba was relieved to see the tension in the sand shinobi's body start to ease, although his eyes remained closed. Reaching the end of the piece, Kiba made to put the guitar back down, but a hand on his arm stopped him, stopped everything, including his breathing. Gaara faced him, green eyes beseeching. "Keep going?" he murmured, voice barely audible. These words – more request than demand – sent shivers along Kiba's skin. Dumbly, he nodded, playing the first thing that came into his head.
The hand was removed and he was sorry about that, but it was worth the loss of contact for the look of complete contentment that spread over the other's face. "Sing," a whisper implored him, and he did, voice a little shaky.
~*~
Damn.
Gaara knew exactly what this was. He'd known from the start, really, but denial was good. Now, however, everything was clearer than crystal and he didn't like it.
But he liked the music.
And he really liked the voice. It soothed him, comforted him, but at the same time it managed to send chills all the way down his spine.
"There's a heart on the line and it rests with your eyes. Please don't fade and please don't cry, coz it's all white lies. Take a chance, watch it fall, grab too much and lose it all. Now I've lost my disguise; it was all white lies…"
Chocolate-coloured orbs met his gaze, uncertain, imploring and so damn beautiful that he found himself unable to look away. This was a bitch. But it was the next line that was the real killer.
"Stay here, lie with me here…"
Clarity. Shock. A wave of something unknown, unfamiliar but not entirely unwelcome. Kiba's voice faltered, the playing stopped. One look at his face told Gaara that he'd felt it too. Whatever it was.
~*~
Fuck, what the hell just happened?!
One minute he'd been singing, the next he'd caught Gaara's eyes and everything had suddenly turned upside down, fading into fuzzy nothingness until the other boy was the only clear thing. That was illogical, not to mention proof that he was finally going insane.
It was also the last straw as far as his wayward emotions were concerned. Enough was enough. He had to go. Where didn't matter, as long as it was away from Gaara, at least for the moment.
"I-I have to…" he stuttered, fumbling for an excuse and clumsily gathering up the pages of his notebook that were scattered around him. As it turned out, an excuse wasn't necessary.
"Of course…" Gaara said quietly, looking as shell-shocked as he felt. "Um…thanks for playing for me."
"Anytime," Kiba responded automatically, before mentally kicking himself. God, that was a terrible idea. The last thing he needed was a repeat of…of whatever that was.
Akamaru nudged his leg, reminding him of his need to escape. "Well…guess I'll see you."
The desert nin made no response as the chunin grabbed his guitar by the neck and left as quickly as he could without actually running.
Crap. This is not good.
~*~
This is bad…
Well…he'd known it wasn't going to be easy.
Thanks for reading =) If you have time, I'd love to know what you think. Unless, you know, you're only going to diss teh pairing in which case NO. Although I suppose everyone's entitled to their own opinion... ¬_¬
