Hello readers! I just have a small announcement. As some of you might have noticed, the pairing for the story has been changed. Gaara and Naruto just fit so much better in my idea for the story. I'm sorry if this bothers you. I hope you won't stop reading or unfollow because of this, someone already has.

So sorry for not mentioning earlier, I hope you guys can give me some reviews, I really would appreciate them.

Thank you

Naruto yawned as he roused from sleep, blinking his eyes open tiredly and rubbing them to get rid of their blurriness. When he could see again, he sat up in bed and frowned as he noticed the lack of warmth next to him. Gaara's gone. He looked over to the crib by his bedside and gasped at the missing 2 year old. He swung his legs over the bed's edge and flinched at the cold surface of the floor as he stood up. He rushed to the bathroom and peeked in, only to panic when he was met with an empty room. Backing up he rushed out of the room, failing to notice the note on the bedside table. He didn't take the time to notice that he was still in Gaara's larger shirt and boxers he usually sleeps in as he rushed down the hall to the common room.

As he pushed the door open he tried his hardest to ignore the stares as he searched the room for his baby boy. A choked sigh of relief slipped past his lips as he spotted the familiar tuff of red and blond hair on the couch. He made his way to them and collapsed on the couch beside Gaara, almost gasping for breath. He had been so worried.

Gaara seemed surprised by his appearance and immediately foccused on him, asking him what was wrong, checking him over for signs of wounds. Naruto quickly reassured him, reaching for his giggling child. Gaara passed him over and frowned at him.

"Naruto, tell me what's wrong, why do you look so scared? Did that creep from yesterday hurt you?"

The calming blond shook his head and quickly explained. "No, Gaara, i-i just woke up and y-you and Takeru were m-missing. I-I assumed the w-worst. I was w-worried."

The red head looked troubled. "I'm sorry Naru, i left you a note but i guess you didn't see it. Takeru woke up and he was restless, so i took him out so we wouldn't bother you."

Naruto and nodded, bouncing Takeru on his lap softly, keeping him entertained. "Oh, o-ok. Sorry for over-reacting."

Gaara shook his head understandingly. "COme on, you need to pick and practice your next song, you've got about 2 days remember?"

A gasp was the response and he suddenly had a handful of restless baby mass again. "You're right! I gotta get ready!" Naruto got up to head to the available studios for the contestants, but Gaara held him back. "I'm not leaving you alone again after what happened yesterday. I'm coming with you. Besides, Takeru wouldn't be happy without his mommy." Nodding, Naruto took Gaara's hand and they both made their way to the practice studio. Surprisingly, only one was in use. "You'd think more people would be practicing, what with this being a singing competition." Gaara muttered. His friend ignored his comment and entered an available room, closing the blinds for pivacy, beore heading for the available computer. He had some research to do for his song.

As he thought of a possible song selection, he watched Gaara play with Takeru, a real smile, although small, made it's way onto his face.

After listening to random songs on youtube, he found one he liked. He printed off the lyrics and headed to sit next to Gaara on the couch, and studied the lyrics in his head, humming the tune. After he felt confident enough to start singing, he stood up from his spot and bit his lip as he realised he had grabbed onto Gaara's hand at some point. He let go, immediately missing the warmth, and smiles quickly to Gaara before making his way to the soundproof room to practice.

-/-

Gaara tickled Takeru lightly while Naruto studied next to him, and almost jumped in surprised as his felt a smaller hand fit into his. He looked over at the fox-like boy and noticed Naruto had done so unconsciously. Not minding in the least, he went back to entertaining Takeru.

A couple of minutes later the small hand left his grasp and he looked up at the now standing Naruto, who had a light blush in his cheeks as he went ahead to the practice room.

Gaara smiled at the sight of the red tint to the younger boy's face, but turned back to the bubbling mass in his lap, who was demanding attention.

"What's up Takeru? You hungry?"

The little boy shook his head and pointed to his larger doppelgänger.

"Where's mommy going?"

"Mommy's going practice singing. Remember yesterday when mommy sang for everyone?"

He received a nod.

"Well for mommy to sing so well he needs to practice."

Takeru seemed to get it, and be satisfied with the answer so he tired his attention the large hand in front of him. He picked it up and held his own against it. He had always been interested at the size difference between himself and others around him. Everyone was always so much bigger than him!

-/-

Naruto opened his eyes as he heard the familiar screech of his son's voice. He hurried out of the practice room and giggles as he saw Gaara try to calm him down. Naruto knew the red head was aware it was impossible unless someone solved his son's problem, but he still tried. Naruto walked over to them and pulled his baby to his chest, murmuring softly.

"Hey kit, what's wrong? You hungry, is that it? Is it my little fox's feeding time?"

He didn't get a spoken answer but a nod.

"Ok kitling, let's get some food in you then. Come on, ask Gaara to come with, you're not gonna leave him behind are you?"

The child shook his head and having calmed his screaming, whispered between hiccups.

"Gaa c-come with."

Naruto smiled and turned to look at his friend, only to find him already by his side, reaching for Takeru's small hand.

"Would Takeru like to walk in between us? So we can swing you the way I know you like?"

Takeru nodded shyly, a smile already making it's way on his face.

Naruto chuckled and placed him on the ground, taking one of his hands while Gaara happily took the other. The red head opened the door and the trio headed to the cafeteria, swinging an excited Takeru between them from time to time.

-/-

The tree of them walked into the mildly busy cafeteria and Naruto was relieve by the fact that nobody paid attention to them. They were about to head for the line when Naruto stopped them.

"Wait, you know bringing Takeru to get food is gonna be a pain. How about you go get the food an I'll get us a table. Plus, I'm pretty sure if I don't get one now there won't be any left by 12:30."

Gaara was reluctant, and rightly so, but figured Naruto was right. Takeru could be a real pain when he had to wait, so best to keep his tantrum away from people. He knew this was mostly because of Naruto's fear of being stared at. A scene like Takeru's tantrum would no doubt cause them some attention and Naruto wouldn't be able to stand that.

The green-eyed boy nodded reluctantly and asked what the younger and youngest wanted to eat, before heading for the stands.

As Gaara walked away Naruto looked around for a place to sit, preferably empty. He quickly spotted a free table and headed for it, grabbing a baby seat on his way. He set Takeru in his seat and sat as well, playing peek a boo with him until Gaara was done. Just a few rounds later the seat next to his was taken and he assumed it was Gaara back with the food. Not bothering to look at him, too busy with his child, he joked. "Took you long enough, couldn't find the table?"

Naruto tensed at the unfamiliar chuckle that sounded next to him, and turned around in his seat quickly. Luckily for him it was just Ino, the nosy girl from yesterday.

He sighed in relief, heart hammering in his chest as he looked her over worriedly.

What did she want?

The girl smiled at him and spoke.

"So, what've you been up to? Didn't get to talk to you much yesterday, that weird red head just dragged you away."

Naruto tensed once more couldn't seem to say anything for a second, before he let out a noise that sounded a lot like a snarl.

"Don't talk about Gaara that way!"

Ino seemed taken aback, but before she could answer a tray was almost slammed onto the table, causing both Naruto and Ino to jump.

"Gaara!"

Ino gulped as she saw his glare aimed straight at her, regretting her earlier statement.

"I-I'm sorry, i-I'm gonna go."

She quickly gathered her things and rushed away from the table.

Both boys watched her go, relieved. Naruto had barely talked to her two minutes and she already pisses him off.

The blond turned his attention back to Gaara, who had replaced Ino in the seat next to him. Naruto opened his mouth once or twice, unsure what to say, before he let his instincts decide and he shuffled closer, sitting in Gaara's lap sideways, his legs hanging off Gaara's. He took Gaara's hand in his and murmured.

"Thanks for getting there in time, I'm not sure what I would've done otherwise."

Gaara had no response, because Naruto was actually sitting, in his lap. He couldn't process anything else at the moment.

"By the way, what she said was true, you are weird, but if you weren't, you wouldn't be anywhere near as fun to be around. You wouldn't be saving me or protecting me all the time. I need you to be weird, because if you're not, you're not Gaara."

Naruto then slid off his lap and smiled softly.

Gaara smiled back, a red tint to his cheeks. Naruto then went back to taking care of his hungry kitling, feeding him some mashed fruit while occasionally popping bits of salad in his mouth.

Gaara watched carefully, smile gone, as he noticed how little Naruto ate. It wasn't anything new, ever since Takeru, even before that, Naruto had started eating very little. It was unhealthy. Gaara knew it, Naruto knew it, everybody knew it, but somehow he would still eat the bare minimum. That's why Gaara poked Naruto and pointed at the chicken when he got his attention. Before Naruto could sprout off his 'I'm bit hungry' excuse, Gaara gave him a stern look. When that didn't work he took hold of Naruto's face an brought a piece of chicken to his lips, muttering. "Wanna act like a child, then I'll treat you like a child. You know I'll stay like this until you eat it so you better get to it."

Naruto frowned at his position but knew he had no choice. Reluctantly, because he really wasn't hungry - or at least convinced himself he wasn't - he opened his mouth and took the offered piece of meat, munching on it, pouting.

Gaara let go and nodded, motioning for the blond to eat the rest as well. The same would happen again if he didn't. He would feed Naruto the whole plate if he had to.

When they finally finished with their meal, and Takeru was cleaned up - toddlers were messy eaters - they dumped their garbage in the bin and headed out.

Naruto hummed in thought, unsure what to do. They still had a few hours left of the day, but nothing to do. Naruto didn't need to practice his song more today, 3 hours was enough. He turned to get Gaara's opinion and they both decided to go to the closest park. Takeru had a short tolerance for boredom, and staying in the same place would get him bored twice as fast.

After passing through their room for their jackets and Takeru's toys, they headed out, walking down the street with Takeru on Gaara's hip this time.

Naruto bit his lip as they walked. Although he wasn't being stared at, the thoughts lingered. 'What if someone was watching him? What if he was watching him, ready to take him and Takeru away! He had sworn he would come back' Naruto desperately wanted his hand in Gaara's for reassurance but refrained from doing so. He must be annoying Gaara so much, being the broken and fucked up person that he is.

He jumped though, as Gaara's warm and comforting hand enveloped his on it's own. He looked up at the taller boy and received a small and comforting smile. He smiled back in return and squeezed the larger hand in relief.

Everything was ok.

-/-

When they arrived at the park they found it pretty crowded, and Naruto bit his lip in worry, hand tightening in Gaara's. With a reassuring squeeze from his friend they made their was through the gate and looked around.

The park was fairly small, most of it with sandy ground. There were two slides, with swings attached to the side, a seesaw further away and benches scattered around the place. Everything was painted in bright colours, different drawn animals also decorating the equipment. Takeru immediately fell in love with the place and demanded to be let down. Gaara obliged and watched the tiny boy run - waddle - towards the baby slide. At least he knew what equipment was for his size. Gaara carefully lead the tense blonde to the closest bench, also the one where they could keep an eye on Takeru the best. When they sat down Gaara turned his attention to the pretty blond next to him, while always keeping an eye on his mini-me.

"Naru, tell me what wrong."

The blond didn't answer for a while, but Gaara knew he had heard him. He let him think of his answer and compose himself before he spoke, his voice just barely a whisper.

"I-I'm scared h-he's watching, and he'll come for us."

Gaara knew more than anyone else what had happened to Naruto 2 years ago, but he didn't know everything. He knew that whoever had...assaulted the blond had threatened him before leaving, and with what the blond was saying he could easily guess what about.

"Naruto. Naruto look at me."

The kitsune slowly turned to look at him, fear shining bright in his eyes.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing to worry about. He's locked away, nothing is going to happen, no-one is gonna hurt you, I promise."

Naruto bit his lip but nodded. Gaara could clearly see the boy in front of him desperately wanted to believe him, but simply couldn't. Gaara didn't blame him.

He pulled the boy close to him and pushed the blond's face into his neck gently, knowing that for some reason, that place comforted him. Although Naruto struggled with affection, hiding in Gaara's neck was never a problem for him. Naruto sighed in relief and let himself relax in the warm safety that was the red head's neck and scent, drifting off after Gaara whispered.

"Don't worry about Takeru, I'll watch him."

-/-

The short blond roused and mumbled incoherently in his half asleep state, feeling himself move, but drifted back to sleep as a familiar voice lulled him back to sleep.

-/-

Naruto roused once more, blinking his eyes open slightly in the dark, coming face to face with Gaara, who was staring at him.

"Go back to sleep Naruto, we're back in the room. You fell asleep and I brought us all back."

Naruto nodded sleepily and looked over his shoulder to see his sleeping child, before settling back on the comfy bed and drifting back off to sleep, filled with both nightmares and dreams.

-HidingBehindMyMask