Set On Repeat

Suggestions of Music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs. "Gold Lion."

Disclaimer: No own. I'll sell you Sasori's cigarettes for twenty-five thousand dollars though. Come on! Any takers?

Warning(s): Kissing.

Chapter Ten: Problems and How We Fix Them

"Shika'."

A dull clicking echoed through the room. It was the only sound besides the lone voice that seemingly came from the doorway. The clicking paused, and thereafter continued.

"Shika'?"

Another long lapse of silence. This time the clicking stopped for all of five seconds, then began again in a frenzy.

"Dammit Nara!"

There was snap in return, and Kiba had the younger high school student by the collar of his shirt in the blink of an eye.

"Bastard! Selfish little bastard! Don't even care what I have to say?" Kiba's eyes were dark and serious; he knew what he was talking about.

Shikamaru, in return, flinched away. "I don't…want to bother with anyone right now. Please leave me alone."

The older boy had to stop himself from shaking some wits into his friend. "Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot… Don't even care, huh? About him? Naruto?"

Before Kiba could even get any closer to the point, Shikamaru's eyes snapped over and focused on him with wild fury etched into them. "What about him?" His tone was soft, almost angry.

A sigh was the answer, and Kiba slowly began to explain. Naruto wouldn't kill him. He might be mad, but what was a little anger if the blond was hurt? "You know the other day when you went over to his house? Well, I went over there yesterday and had a chat."

Shikamaru was still, hiding the agitation. He'd get his verbal argument in soon.

"Turns out poor Naruto was beaten up over somethin'. Said somethin' 'bout a newspaper…I think. Yeah. Well he showed me some of the marks, and I sure as hell was surprised. Those bastards did a pretty little job, too." His brows creased in remembrance. It was harder to get it into words than to think it.

As Kiba's grip loosened on the other brunette's collar, Shikamaru's fingers fell limply away from the keyboard, and his gaze cast downward.

Gods no…

That couldn't be true.

If it was then…then…

He had made a horrible mistake.

Gotten mad at one of his only friends for absolutely no reason.

Shikamaru stood up abruptly and exited the room. Kiba allowed him, knowing where he was going, and mentally praying that Shikamaru could fix the problems that had bred.

Temari readjusted the messenger bag onto her shoulder, staring into the sky as she walked up the path to Sasori's little rented place. If you looked straight up and just watched the clouds, you could glimpse the gray pollution up there shifting. It was a little disturbing the way the world was trashed these days. Made Temari want to join a cleaning committee or something of that sort.

Though it was probably physically impossible to clean the whole world before it died. Maybe one day technology would grow so advanced that everyone would ditch gasoline and go for solar power, so that hopefully Earth could clean itself and cleanse the air again. The medieval war time-period had bluer skies than this, and there was tenfold the amount of violence then.

She knocked on the front door, drawing her mind away from its wandering, and again remembered why Kankuro hadn't come. The door opened. It was Sasori, and he raised an eyebrow at the blonde's appearance.

"Hey, I brought him some clothes," she stated evenly, yet softly. These days she always talked softly.

He nodded and took the bag, setting it on the side table by the door, then stepping outside beside his cousin. "How is it going?"

Temari looked extremely tired, Sasori noticed, for her eyes had circles ringing them of a very faint gray. "I don't know… He's really upset about Gaara, but that's to be expected, I guess."

Sasori leaned against the front door and set a serious look on his face. "Letting up at all?"

"I hope…" was all she answered.

"Well, at least give me some hints on how to deal with Gaara. He annoys the heck out of me. Does he watch TV? Does he listen to music? What does he eat? What does—"

"He's not eating?" she cut in sharply.

Sasori faltered for a minute at her abruptness, but got over it quickly. "He is, but he doesn't eat a lot unless I ask him."

Temari's gaze locked on the ground. "He likes…" Now that she thought about it, she had no idea. Breathing deeply, Temari straightened her back and refused to acknowledge the fact on how poorly she knew her own little brother's interests. "He likes…sweets, I think. Yeah."

"Well he can't live on them."

"He likes sushi."

He nodded. That was a start. "So would he like fish?"

"No. He hates fish."

Sasori bit back a small smile. "Okay. Thanks for stopping by. You can call whenever you want, Temari."

Temari in return faced the direction of the driveway. "No problem. I'll call tomorrow." As she headed back down the path, a question suddenly popped into Sasori's awareness.

"Hey, where's Kankuro? He didn't call today."

The blonde teen stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "He's…" A long pause. "He's not feeling good. Throat hurts, so he can't talk that well."

"Ah."

Sasori returned back inside and went to give the bag to Gaara, who was residing in Sasori's spare bedroom, watching a man across the street desperately try to catch his dog that had gotten of its leash.

Shikamaru took another deep, calming breath. He could do this. Just walk in and tell Naruto he was sorry. So easy, so easy, so—

Dammit, he couldn't do this.

In a state of panic, Shikamaru was about to turn and walk back down the street, when the door opened. Naruto stood there with his eyes downcast and a thermometer sticking out of his mouth. He hadn't seen Shikamaru yet, and looked as though he was emptying the water from a vase (for what reason, Shikamaru had no idea), when Shika' noticed something.

Naruto wasn't wearing a shirt.

Why they both had gone to such extents to find out about a secret that Naruto was protecting like a child, yet now was showing it to anyone who was willing to stand outside his house, Shikamaru couldn't even begin to guess. All he did know, was one thing:

'Idiot.'

Blue eyes snapped up, as though he had heard the thought. Then the tan skin of that face drained of color. "SH-SHIKA'?"

Well, at least he didn't hate him enough to stop calling him by the ever-famous nickname.

But he did have to admit that Naruto looked slightly cute and pouty standing there, shirtless, with a thermometer hanging out of his mouth haphazardly. Shikamaru reached over and plucked the thin glass object from his mouth, preventing it from clattering to the ground. "Hi."

When Naruto stood back up completely with a wince, Shikamaru noticed the rest of the secret.

The proof.

It littered his chest like the winning side of a checkerboard, and made Naruto draw back modestly. "Come in if you want," he spat bitterly, all surprise and wonder washed away with the moment.

Shikamaru, with nothing to lose but his best friend of all time, stepped in and looked around. The house was empty, as predicted, but had a hint of loneliness to it. He shut the door behind him.

"Gym misses you."

"Did Kiba tell you?" Naruto all but got to the point, ignoring Shika's turn from the topic.

"Of his own free will," Shika' answered calmly, not wanting and also knowing the term 'free will' would get a reaction.. Maybe when they both were at the breaking point he'd snap back, but honestly that would only make this ten times worse.

The blond sighed deeply and walked over into the kitchen, raising himself to sit atop the counter by the fridge. "He wasn't s'pose to."

"I know. Fact is, he did." Shikamaru walked in after him and stood leaning against the entrance wall, watching his friend carefully. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

"I…'cause I… didn't want you to be mad," he responded truthfully. It was harder than he had originally thought to face Shika', but he forced himself to tell the truth. He knew lies would only widen the rift.

Shikamaru stepped forward a little. "I wouldn't get mad. Well, maybe for a minute, but I'd get over it and try to help, Naruto." He spoke in soft tones, hoping to draw something from Naruto besides another snap.

"Gods… I fucked up bad, Shika'…" It seemed he was talking more to himself than the brunette. "I shouldn't have… I should've listened to you."

"No, you did what you had to do, no matter the consequences. It's just a damn newspaper, Naruto. Just a newspaper. All you did was write your thoughts. A few people are already starting to leave Sasuke alone, you know," he added as an afterthought, remembering how the jeering and constant avoidance of the Uchiha had lessened, even if it was almost unnoticeable.

Same for Gaara, but Shikamaru wasn't about to tell Naruto that. The redhead was still hiding it, after all. Not like Shikamaru was positive or anything. He could just…tell.

Blue eyes rose to meet brown, and Naruto whispered, "I'm sorry," before getting back up off the counter. Shikamaru let a slight smile grace his lips and he just nodded at Naruto. "Really, I am…"

"I know. So am I." That was...easier than he had expected.

There was a long, comfortable silence, before Shikamaru approached Naruto and set his hands on the blonde's shoulders. He looked confused for a minute, and even more so when the brunette leaned in and…and…

Cerulean eyes widened as Shika' closed the distance. 'He's not going to…is he? Oh my god…'

Their lips connected in that moment, and Shikamaru held it that way for just another balanced moment, before pulling away. He hadn't gotten a response from the blond, at all. Not good.

Sasuke yawned and drug himself out of bed. It was Saturday, finally. He mentally cheered. Another good…fourteen days of no school. He got to his feet and pulled a random t-shirt over his head, emitting another yawn, before going out into the den.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Itachi was in the kitchen talking to someone sitting on the couch over the counter. Sasuke recognized the voice but was too tired to tag a name to it. Instead he got a glass of water and chugged it.

"Sasuke?"

The raven-haired teenager opened one eye to acknowledge whoever had just said his name, when the cup nearly slipped out of his hand and went shattering to the ground. Thankfully, Itachi caught it before that happened. He smirked knowingly, placing the cup on the counter, then leaving the room.

"Gaara?" he practically squeaked. "What…what are you doing here?"

The redhead blinked at him. "I was wondering the same thing myself. Sasori had to work…so he dropped me off here."

Sasuke knew who Sasori was; Itachi's college friend had stopped by more than once to just hang around. How did Gaara know him though? "You know Sasori?"

"Apparently he's my cousin."

Long silence. Sasuke's mind was racing. He had been so close to Gaara…and he hadn't known it! What a letdown…

"But I didn't find that out until recently."

"Oh." Well, that was better. "How many hours does Sasori work?"

"Um… I don't know… He said he'd be back around seven or eight…"

Sasuke glanced over at the clock. It was eleven now. What was he going to do with Gaara until then? Play board games?

"I'm going out. There's lettuce in the fridge. Gaara, make yourself comfortable, 'kay? I'll be back within the hour," Itachi announced by the door.

All the color drained from Sasuke's face. Great. Just dandy. Gaara and him were alone for a good forty-five minutes. He didn't think he'd survive… Sitting down on the couch next to Gaara, Sasuke reached for the remote to maybe lessen the tension a bit. "Uh…any requests?"

"No." 'Never get much time to watch TV.'

Sasuke shrugged and just flipped to his most-watched channel; cheer for pointless music-obsessed sponsors. Currently they were playing a…'suggestive' hip-hop song. Sasuke furrowed his brow in concentration. Was it just him, or did all those types of music videos have something to do with pimps 'pimping out' and driving through the neighborhood in a flashy car, while banging their heads simultaneously? It was getting just a tad overrated.

There was a moment when Gaara actually laughed (Sasuke couldn't help but think of it as more of a giggle) at one part, due to a completely idiotic thing one person did. Sasuke found himself smiling.

After ten minutes they bothbecame extremely bored, so Sasuke turned the television off, and they sat there in silence. "…Want to see my room?"

'IDIOT. IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT,' was what ran through his head. That sounded so…so much like a come on it wasn't even funny. 'Hey Gaara, want to see my room so I can rape you and you can end up jumping out the second-story window again?'

Gaara stared over at him for a minute. "S-sure," he answered softly, and stood up along with his host. "So, um…Sasuke…" he began idly, while following the black-eyed boy down the hall. Why had he agreed anyway? There was no response from the other boy, but he decided to continue nonetheless. "How's…Sakura?"

In front of him, Sasuke paused for a second, then kept on, opening the door to the room that caused Sasuke to glance back at Gaara momentarily. "I don't know… I think she's at her dad's; she hasn't called lately."

"Oh." In the absence of anything to do or say, Gaara walked over to a dresser and stared at the radio for a minute. Then he popped open the CD port, and looked at the CD that had been currently in there.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was having a mental war on how to talk to the redhead. He noticed Gaara messing around with his radio, and got a bright idea. Music! Music was a good place to start!

"'Linkin Park'…'Meteora'…" Gaara read off the CD. "…I've heard this."

The raven-haired youth nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty good. Haven't listened to it in forever, though."

"Well then…" Gaara smiled very slightly to himself. He put the CD back into the player and pressed play, waiting for it to search and finally carry out the demand. When sound began leaking from the speakers, the redhead went over to sit on the bedspread. Why he wasn't nervous when Sasuke came over and sat within two feet from him, he didn't have any idea.

The intro began with the very interesting noise of breaking glass. All the words to every song instantly flooded back to him. This time, he did smile.

The showerhead sprayed the steamy water onto her scalp soothingly, and Sakura sighed happily. Showers were…heaven. As she finished rinsing the soapsuds from her hair, Sakura cut the water off, and stepped over the rim of the bathtub to get a towel.

She wrapped it tightly around her, and wrung her hair out slightly. Sakura left the foggy bathroom and entered the bedroom she was staying in, pulling out a pair of jeans and a white-collared shirt with pale pink pinstripes, before dressing quickly. When she was done she left the bedroom and entered the den, spotting Lyon almost immediately.

"Can you drive yet?" He had attempted to comb his hair back, and a line of red streaked under his eye topped the already thick, red rings around his eyes. Lyon sat on the couch with ankle-high, black skull printed converses propped up onto the glass.

"Uh, no. Why? Need a ride?" she asked, blinking at his straightforwardness.

Lyon shrugged and sat up. "Sort of."

"Take the city bus."

At that he stood up, but Sakura's voice stopped him again. "I'm going with you, wherever you're going."

His jaw slacked at the very thought. "Hell no—"

"LYON, HUSH. Kris can hear you, you know!" Devi's perfect voice rang from the other room.

They both brushed her off. Lyon scowled. "No."

"Yes. I'm older than you, and I'll say what I do and don't do. Besides, you need to be watched, you being…well, you."

The purple-haired teen shrugged. "Whatever. Then let's go." Outside and walking along the road to the bus stop, he spoke again, "If it were anyone else I'd throw myself off a building before agreeing."

"Um…thanks?" Sakura responded meekly, in the absence of anything else to say.

Then they were boarding the newly arriving bus in silence. How he had made at just the right time to catch it, she couldn't even begin to guess. When they were both seating side-by-side in one of the seats, Sakura asked her question. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"A friend's party."

"Ah."

Finally, he stood up as the bus pulled to a stop, and beckoned for her to come. When they got off the bus, Lyon stepped quickly along the sidewalk as though there was no time to waste. "Is there going to be, like…alcohol?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. We'll see."

They stopped in front of a nice, suburban home, same as any other along the street, and Lyon proceeded to knock on the door. A moment later the door opened and an older-looking teen stood with a beer in hand and a girl attached to his hip, grinning. "Ly', dude, wassup?"

"Hey, Kans." Lyon smirked a little at the beer bottle, and Sakura shifted uncomfortable.

Kans suddenly pointed at her. "Who's tha' chick?"

Lyon nodded at Sakura briefly. "My stepsister. Sakura. Leave her alone." And he stepped to and by the guy, causing Sakura to hurry and catch up, already becoming a little uneasy around such free behavior. There were even two people going at it on the stairwell on her right, from what she could tell. Sakura had to practically hide behind her younger-by-two-years stepbrother in an attempt not to get hit on by the older drunk guys.

They made it to the den, and things just seemed to take a turn for the worse by that point.

"You're supposed to be watching the kid, yeah."

Sasori looked up from his ice water, and smirked. "I know."

There was a moment of silence, in which Deidara gave Sasori a long look. "Well you're responsible, " he muttered sarcastically. "Did ya take a sick day or something?"

"Hn," he answered, ignoring the question. Sasori swished an ice cube around with his pinky, before glancing up at the blond again. "Deidara?" he asked suddenly.

Deidara got up from his seat at the kitchen table. "Yeah?"

"Does…does my smoking bother you?" It was a random question, but one that had been bugging him for a while now, ever since that night they tried to celebrate Deidara's eighteenth birthday.

"Well…no…yeah…no, yeah."

"…What?"

"I mean—I don't know…" He looked frustrated and confused, leaning against the counter. "I don't want it to…but you know…"

Sasori nodded slowly, keeping trained blue eyes on the other teenager, trying to draw more of an answer out of him.

"I… Sasori, I think it's my damn asthma. You know…I can't stand perfume or any kind of spray…especially that fruity crap my mom has in the bathroom, yeah. I remember once—" He was cut off by Sasori's hand over his mouth.

A smile, and one was returned.

"Sorry, yeah…"

Sasori couldn't help but hold his breath when he slowly removed his hand, and found himself inches away from Deidara. The shorter blond blinked, surprised, then became a little nervous, tugging at the hem of his shirt lightly. After a brief second, he leaned in, and then…

…Well, hormones took it from there.

End of Chapter Ten

Two down…one to go… …which unfortunately will be handled next chapter. I honestly would have put more to this chapter, but that's not physically possible for me. Unless you WANT to wait another week… LOVE FOR EVERYONE THAT REVIEWED.