"I-I, you know me, just, uh, checking the floor," Naruto stammered lamely. He knew it was pointless. He was caught red-handed. No denying. No point. "Keep your nose up your own ass for once," Gaara growled at him, his voice as cold as it had once been weeks ago. This disappointed him greatly. Just when he'd felt he was making progress, Gaara had reverted again. Naruto could tell from his face. It was hard and bitter and angry.
The redhead was usually withdrawn.
What progress, Naruto? What progress? You haven't done anything but bother him and annoy him. You haven't done anything good for him. You saved him once and he's safe at the moment, but if you really want to make a difference, you have to get his trust. He's scared of his father, right? And so are his siblings. The police can't help, well they can, but not at the moment. So maybe if he trusts you, then you can help. Save him for real.
Naruto wondered if talking to himself in his head classified him as a nut job. Probably. Oh well. He was already classified as a nut job.
"Gaara-"
"I'm leaving."
"Wait! I'll come with you-"
Gaara didn't respond, only gritting his teeth slightly and turning away. He wanted to be alone. Was that really so hard for the blond to comprehend? How stupid was he? He wanted to be alone. He stepped down the stairs, feeling Naruto and Sasuke's gazes on his back. Watching him leave. How nosy, Shukaku sighed. I actually thought the blond would be of some use, but he's too stupid. All he's done is mess up things-
Be quiet, Shukaku.
I-What?
I don't want to hear it. Naruto may be an idiot and he shouldn't be involved, but...
Gaara remembered when Shukaku hadn't been there. When he'd been alone, in the darkness. He'd been all alone. He'd thought so. But then, suddenly, the blond was there. He hadn't given up on him. He'd jumped through a window, just to get in the house. He'd risked a lot in coming and helping him leave. He'd given Gaara a safehouse, if only briefly. He'd woken up at ungodly hours in the morning and slept next to him and woken him up from a nightmare. Gaara remembered hugging Naruto, being hugged for real, with friendship and warmth, something he'd never experienced. Warmth. Amongst the icy region known as his world.
Don't insult him. I won't get him involved, but I don't want you to bad-mouth him. He's my friend.
Shukaku was shocked, to say the very least. Since when did Gaara sound so authoritive? So emotionally involved? He rarely told Shukaku what to do and while Shukaku should've been offended, he couldn't help but feel a spark of hope. Maybe Gaara had a spark of something in him. He, Shukaku, had to make Gaara fight for himself. He wanted to badly to rip Gaara's father into shreds, but there was nothing he could do from within this mental prison. It had to be Gaara.
Short, but I know what's going to happen next so I'll be able to update quickly.
So eh, addressing the yaoi matter, I think I'll just let it go wherever it goes. I don't want to ruin it with my crappy attempts at romance, but maybe if I'm sneaky and slip it in there, then it won't be so bad. Eh, did that make sense? Not really. Oh well.
Oh and reviews aren't showing up on the story. Like, I know when you guys review and I can read it off my email, but I can't actually see it on the story. The number of reviews changes, but the reviews themselves don't show up. Anyone know what's going on? Is it just me?
