Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto… /cackles to self/
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Problematic H-Words
The next couple of days of travel passed quickly and uneventfully.
Talk was kept to a minimum, as Gaara had decided to stop attempting to bond with Sakura without first consulting someone; he honestly didn't know how to proceed and she still hadn't cottoned onto the fact that he was trying to make friends.
Of course, this was mainly because Sakura didn't think of friendship as some embargo that took a lot of effort to start up, as Gaara saw it. As far as she was concerned, she was getting along wonderfully with Gaara and vice versa. He wasn't scary at all anymore, mostly just shy and unsure. He meant well, and that's what mattered.
She didn't tell Gaara this, though. If she had, he might not have been going so crazy.
Most of Gaara's frustration was the result of trying to figure out how to deal with the little things the pinkette did that always cured him of his… himness. It was quite unsettling, which was undoubtedly good for him, but… weird. He just couldn't shake the strangeness of the whole process.
It was the same every time: she would say or do something that just crossed the line, he would pick up some old habit, and then she would fix it without meaning to. All it took was a quiet laugh, a quirky smile, a friendly wrinkle of her nose and he was back to his almost humane self.
Now, five miles outside of Suna, Gaara was having a mini meltdown.
I just can't… I-Is this what people call… love? I'm so confused. And I can't ask her. Even if she knew, she would think I was strange, and then she might stop talking to me.
Don't sweat it so much. I'll let you know when it's love. Or maybe you'll figure it out all on your own when the time comes. But you aren't there yet, so stop freaking out.
I don't think he'll get there for a long time, frankly. I mean, I don't do love, and I tend to inspire some of the deepest hatred known to mankind as a fact, so it's going to take him a while to learn how this stuff works. Ha… Don't worry, boy. I'll always be there to help!
…You're loving this, aren't you? Aren't you? You sick bastard.
Heh. It's in my nature. Sue genetics, why don'tcha?
Letting out a piteous groan, Gaara massaged his forehead roughly. He really hated it when they fought, which, unfortunately, was all the time. Every conflict came to naught, since all they could do was scream insults back and forth at each other, and all of this only resulted in a colossal headache for him.
"Gaara? Are you okay?"
Such a simple question.
No, actually, I'm irreversibly fucked up by now. I'm talking serious mental issues. And you are making things so much worse by just being around me and being yourself. Isn't that terrible? Yeah, I think so too. Yeah, you can leave. I mind, but I shouldn't matter. Don't worry, I'll find you a new bodyguard; you know, one who doesn't want to bash his head in with that rock over there…
"Uh, Gaara? You all right? Use words, please."
Ah… Damn it.
He shook his head. "I'm fine, just have a bit of a headache is all."
Sakura smiled sweetly. "Well, you should've said something! Come here."
When Gaara reluctantly stepped towards her, she whipped out a hand and clutched his forehead. The sudden flow of foreign chakra made Gaara shy away slightly, but the hand stayed put. To take his mind off the creepy feeling of energies mixing (not to mention the oddity of how eager she was to help him), he focused on the girl's face.
He kind of liked watching the little tweaks of her expression as she healed him (a.k.a. chakra-slapped his inner personalities into silence). Her right eye twitched once, brows knitting together only to relax completely a second later, bringing the corners of her mouth up very slightly, which left her with a very beatific face. Had she always made that pretty of a picture? Had her lips always been that enticing shade of pink? And her eyes, had they always been that exact calming shade of green?
Wait…eyes? Closed, were they not? No more…ergh.
Gaara blushed deeply against his will and cried out silently at the agony of losing his edge. He never would have blushed before just because he was caught staring at someone, since previously, when he stared at someone, he was usually marking them for death and gauging how much they'd bleed.
So why now? He had avoided these… hormones, were they? Yes. He had avoided these hormones before, and while he wanted to fit in with his species, he would rather skip the regular problems. These were a big problem.
Of course, this problem was happening right here right now. He needed a course of action.
To cover the slip, Gaara worked up a sneeze and turned away, mumbling a "thanks" as he rubbed at his nose. He turned to see Sakura looking slightly stunned, but… happy?
"What's that look for?" He asked, eyes narrowing. He didn't really want an answer. So when she shook her head at him, he resumed walking, but didn't ignore the fact that she stepped up to walk beside him.
Okay, maybe they aren't so bad…
Ah, give it up. You know you're going to love life as a regular human being.
