red

by violet summer

AU. Naruto, a famous quarterback, falls in love when he finds Gaara waiting tables half-naked at a burlesque pub in LA, but Gaara will have to face an ex-fiancee used to killing to get what she wants and a homophobic father armed with hitmen. NaGaa.

12. talk pt 1

"Let me grab my toothbrush." He couldn't move at first. He knew they'd been intimate before. He knew about all the events that transpired before their current position. All if his surroundings were familiar, yet somehow newer and clearer than before. Naruto held his place, his breath brushing red strands from side to side.

"I'll be right out", he said still searching for the strength to move from the same spot. His heart was beating from his head down to his feet, making it all the more difficult to hold the grasp on his integrity. I know I'm going to regret this later. I just know it. What if something else comes up? Who's to say something won't happen again?

But, we can't just stand here forever. I can't move, though. Ok, Gaara, just slowly reach for your keys. Why does he have to stare at me like that? He's not even blinking. It's like he's going to attack me or something.

Gaara, fighting to free himself from the blue gaze that paralyzed him, reached for the keys in his bag to unlock the withered door. The lock stuck for a bit before it opened. Naruto's close presence behind him made his small task all the more difficult. He walked through the narrow space between Naruto and the door frame, too lightheaded to remember to lock the door. His breath was still erratic as he grabbed random necessities from the room while Naruto waited outside.

He could hear Gaara rummaging through the apartment and peeled open the door. It was a tiny unit with dark walls and a faux-wooden material lining the floors.

He spotted Gaara in the corner of the cramped unit stuffing miscellaneous articles of clothing and a charger into the gray bag over his shoulder.

"Are you planning on staying a while?" He said with a slight smirk.

Gaara, startled by his silent entrance, struggled to find the words to answer. "No… I don't", he said turning back to his task. "I just have a few places to go tomorrow, and I won't have time to come back home, that's all".

Naruto began to take a closer look around the dark apartment, disregarding his answer. Everything in the entire space had its place, as if someone had glued the items in place to prevent someone from moving them. There was a fold-out bed near the window leading to the fire escape. Next to the frame where the bed was stored stood a small stack of books in the corner near a small dresser. French Grammar. Russian Ballet History. Kinesiology.

"Your apartment looks better than the rest of the building"

Gaara gave him a dry glance. "That doesn't say very much."

The cracked ceiling paint and rusty exposed water pipes caught Naruto's attention. "Point taken."

The younger dancer continued to rummage much to his older counterpart's annoyance.

"You ready yet?"

"Don't you see me still looking?", the red haired man inquired scanning the room with his green eyes for a third time since their passionate encounter.

"What are you looking for?"

"My leg warmers."

"Since when you do you need leg warmers to have sex?" Naruto came closer. "Better yet, that's actually kind of hot"

"I have rehearsal tomorrow", he said getting up to survey the apartment again. "Pig."

"Just for the record, I've never had to wait this long for sex", Naruto began to look through the right side of the small apartment.

"According to you, you've never had to wait for sex at all", Gaara shot back. "Before me at least."

"I never said that"

"Yes you did"

"No, I didn't"

"Even if you didn't, you have to admit that totally sounds like something you would say."

"That sounds a little too cocky, even for me."

"Whatever you say", Gaara said continuing his search.

Naruto stopped suddenly when his eyes caught the sight of a pocket-sized black composition notebook atop a roll-away shelf near the kitchen sink. The pages were slightly frayed and the binding looked as though it had been burned and sewn back together with a single strand of red yarn. On the front, several titles had been written and crossed out with a black permanent marker. The last title that hadn't yet been crossed out was Naruto's initials. He glanced behind him to make sure Gaara was still preoccupied and quickly slipped the notebook into his jacket pocket.

"You can stop whining, I found them", he said stuffing the long black sleeves into his bag. "Now I'm ready."

"Finally."

"It's only been five minutes."

"You said you were going in for your toothbrush."

"I'm not walking out of your house in clothes from a club that probably just fired me", he said motioning down at his attire before he closed and locked the rusty door. Naruto scanned Gaara's backside.

"Looks fine to me", he said reaching downward to grab him only for Gaara to smack his hand away.

"You must've been one of those fat kids always in the cookie jar."

"I was not fat as a kid."

"Did your mother tell you that?"

"I'm strong enough to have my way with you in this hallway."

They could hear a woman in an apartment passing by, screaming at the top of her lungs along with the rhythmic thrashing of a bed post into the wall neighboring the hallway. Gaara rolled his eyes and shook his head in dismay.

"See", Naruto pointed to the door. "She has the right idea"

"She's probably faking it", Gaara said flippantly. "No one's that good in bed."

A gust of wind met them as they exited the building. Gaara folded his arms across his chest. "When did it get so cold?"

"Probably when it became August in New York and you decided to become a go-go boy."

"Instead of getting snippy with me, you might wanna stop that guy from stealing your car", Gaara said flatly as Naruto rocketed over to the hooded man trying to break the door handle on the black vehicle.

At the sight of the larger man charging toward him, the concealed thief made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from his impending consequence.

He appeared as if he were about to open his mouth to speak but was cut off by Naruto's fists lifting him off his feet. Naruto could see the gaunt shadow of his frantic face beneath the glowing streetlamp. He began to ramble in an English amalgamated language.

Gaara was about to run over to the quarrel when Naruto roared for him to stay where he was.

He'd never heard him address him in such a tone, prompting him to heed the older man's words. He didn't know whether to fear for the man's life or for the possibility that he might have been concealing a weapon.

He lifted the shorter hooded man by his dark clothing and tossed him to the ground.

Before Naruto could inflict any more harm he scrambled to his feet and darted off into a nearby alley.

Gaara stood aloof on the steps of the apartment building with a shameful expression about his face. He slowly walked down the steps as Naruto stood staring off into the dark as his chest noticeably rose and fell. Gaara's heart was still racing in the aftermath of the short-lived scuffle. Naruto turned away slowly and unlocked the scratched door.

The red haired man got in and surveyed the area to see if anyone else was coming to avenge the foiled carjacking. He looked over at his older counterpart as his temples began to bulge, the way they always did when he was angry.

Naruto wasted no time before starting the engine and driving off. Gaara sighed deeply as he clasped his hands together in his lap

"I guess I should've warned you about him."

Naruto snapped his head over to face his passenger. "You know him?!"

"I don't know him", Gaara put his hands up in defense. "Well…not personally. I've just seen him steal a few cars before. That's why no one parks on this street anymore. It's just what he does."

"That info would've been useful."

"I'm sorry."

Naruto sighed. "It wasn't your fault."

They sat in silence for the majority of the ride across town to the Upper East Side.

When they pulled into the parking garage, Naruto glanced over to Gaara as he gazed out the window. The reflections of the light above them, as they passed by, delicately brushed over the features of his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked as they pulled into a parking spot and he turned off the engine, bringing an unbearable silence into the car. Gaara shifted uncomfortably in his seat to create any noise to disturb the vacuum of space.

"Naruto, what are we doing?"

"Well, I thought we were about to go have sex."

"And then what?"

He paused for a moment. "More sex?"

"I'm serious!"

"So am I."

"Can you stop for a second and listen to me? Please?"

He paused for a moment before rubbing his temples. "I'm listening."

"What I mean is, what's going to happen to us tomorrow? When we wake up and it's time for me to go back home, what am I going to mean to you after that?"

Naruto draped his hand over Gaara's seat and leaned in closer. "Look, I get it. A lot has happened up until now, mostly on my part. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're still willing to put up with me after all I've put you through. Believe me, tomorrow; the day after that, and the day after that, you'll be the one I want to be with."

"What about your family?"

"I love them to death, but I'm a grown man. I can make decisions myself."

Gaara smiled as Naruto leaned in to kiss him. "So you're not mad at me for almost getting your car stolen?"

"I am. But I know a few ways you can make it up to me", he said as his left hand traveled up and down Gaara's thigh. The red haired dancer climbed over the console into Naruto's lap as their lips met in a heated union of sun and earth. Naruto unlocked the door and let him out before they made their way to the elevator.

Gaara, still trailing behind him, grew weak in his knees and tried desperately to recover from his lightheadedness before his fatigue became cause for Naruto's concern. He stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Naruto turned around to see Gaara struggling to stand up and shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" He rushed over to him and supported his back with his arm.

"I'm fine, I just tripped."

"Over a flat surface? You're not that clumsy."

"Naruto, I'm fine", he insisted with a smile. The older man bore into him with his eyes before deciding to take his word.

Naruto's phone rang in his pocket while they stepped into the elevator. He pulled Gaara into the elevator with him before the doors closed making him collide softly with his torso. The blonde haired man pulled the buzzing phone out of his pocket to see who was infringing upon the night's events.

"Who is that?" Gaara looked up into the blue eyes beneath the light in the elevator.

"It's Sakura."

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"What for?"

The phone kept ringing.

"It could be important."

"It isn't important."

"How will you know if you don't answer it?"

"By not answering it?"

The phone kept buzzing.

"I have a feeling it's important."

"Why do you want me to answer so badly?"

"If she's calling at this hour it's probably pretty important."

"I'm horny. That's important."

"Answer it, please. For me?"

"I need to figure out a way to stop listening to you."

"Good luck", he said folding his arms across his chest with a smirk. "Plus, if you don't answer it, she's going to assume you're with me and then she really won't give you moment's rest."

Naruto grumbled and expletive as the elevator doors opened to Naruto's front door. He answered the phone as they walked past another resident entering the elevator. He and Naruto exchanged nods before he gave Gaara an odd stare.

"What?"

"Let me guess, you're about to have sex."

"Nice deductive reasoning, Sherlock."

"I have ample opportunities throughout the day to slap you silly, just so you know."

"What do you want Sakura?"

"I'm calling to tell you the representative from Carpenter moved the meeting to 10am"

"Why the fuck did he do that?"

"His wife is getting a face lift at 12. How the fuck should I know?"

"So I have to wake up two hours earlier because his wife has a turkey-neck."

Gaara chuckled to himself.

"Look, do you want this company to sponsor you or not? And before you say something stupid, let me add that I worked my ass off to land this account for you."

"Fine, I'll meet you at the office at 9:30."

"I don't like the tone you're taking with me right about now"

"Sorry, I get like this when people stop me from getting laid."

Gaara opened his mouth to object when Naruto tossed him over his shoulder, making him yelp loud enough for Sakura to hear him.

"Do you mind not fondling your boy toy while we're on the phone?"

"Is there anything else?" He said as he unlocked and entered his front door with Gaara still in tow. "I kind of have plans for the evening."

"One more thing, your dad is here on business and he wants to take you out for lunch tomorrow."

"Why hasn't he called me?"

"He did, but I'm guessing you've been preoccupied for the last 24 hours."

"Goodnight, Sakura."

"I need a pay raise." She said before hanging up.

Naruto threw his phone on the counter as he walked through the spacious loft with Gaara squirming on his shoulder. From his view within the taller man's grasp he surveyed the lavish living space. This place is even nicer than the one he had in LA. This must cost a fortune. Well, then again, he just won a Super Bowl. This must've been chump change for him to buy. This isn't happening to me right now. I'd pinch myself if he would put me down.

"This is one giant ass loft for one person."

"Who knows…", the two made it to Naruto's room. "There may be more people here one day."

Before Gaara could contemplate what he'd heard, Naruto tossed him onto the large soft bed. His heart began to race again as Naruto tossed his jacket to the side and left the room for a brief moment. He sat up and looked around him. This room looks like something out of a magazine. This thing itches like a motherfucker, he thought, removing the dancewear and throwing it in the trashcan behind the night stand.

He walked around the room letting the warmth of the room caress his bare skin. The room was dimly lit and he gazed out of the window to see the city. He became so entrapped in the sight of the lights that he didn't notice the lights going out.

He looked down below the building where people could still be seen walking on the sidewalk. He was still adjusting to the constant activity of this place so wondrous to him.

A hard breeze rattled the window a bit, causing him to retreat slightly back into the room. As he stepped back, he was startled when two hands wrapped around his waist. He could feel Naruto's hairy chin resting on his shoulder, the warmth of his bare chest melting Gaara into the purest of sensations.

"Like the view?" He whispered into this ear.

"It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful."

Gaara could feel Naruto's lips brushing over the nape of his neck. His red head rolled to the side as his eyes melted shut. He bit down softly into Gaara's flesh, making him release a silken gasp. He could feel Naruto's strong hands gripping the insides of his thighs near his manhood. He could feel the heat from within him being doused by the mixing of green and blue.

Naruto began to back them further into the room. They reached the bed and all he could see was Gaara's silhouette against the light being emitted from the window. The younger of the two seductively climbed into the bed allowing the blue light to capture his eyes. Naruto was captivated by the openness of his body as Gaara lifted himself high enough to peer confidently into Naruto's blue eyes.

He breathed softly across his masculine features before he ran his tongue down his bare chest, invigorating every cell, every fiber of his being until he reached his peak. Gaara laid down on his back as Naruto climbed over him. He started at the surface of the redhead's lips and slowly traveled down to his neck, biting down hard, receiving no response. Naruto continued his oral advances when a soft rhythmic breathing graced his ears. He looked up to see Gaara's green eyes closed; only an infinitesimal slit revealing a small glimmer of his eyes could be seen.

He gently shook Gaara, only for him to shift over further onto the surface of the bed. Sexual frustration gave way to humor as the older man chuckled softly to himself.

This must be the first time he's slept in days.

He reached beneath the both of them to pull the sheet over their naked bodies as he pulled the young dancer into his chest. Naruto looked down at his sleeping lover in his state of vulnerability once more before letting his private thoughts carry him to join Gaara in sleep.

A door of a hotel suite in Manhattan closed with a firm slam.

The digital clock on the nightstand read 2:00 a.m.

The nearly inaudible click of the door locking behind him sounded with the flashing of the tiny red light near the sterling silver knob. The city bustling 38 stories beneath him failed to chase away the tiredness of his frigid blue eyes.

He tossed his luggage next to the large crisply white-sheeted bed and his tall frame collapsed on the cushioned surface. The darkness of the room enveloped him without contest whereas his pounding headache from the eighteen hour flight from Berlin caused him to leave the room as dim and noiseless as possible. The clock struck 2:05. He knew his wife wanted him to call when he landed in New York but he struggled to find the energy to look for his phone. He could never sleep on planes.

He longed for a drink but he remembered his promise to cut back.

There was a knock at the door.

"Hotel Service."

He clutched his forehead for a brief moment.

"What do you want?"

"Your complimentary dinner, Sir."

He grumbled something under his breath before hoisting himself from his laying position and staggering to the door. His large fingers fumbled around in the dark to find the door knob until he slightly cracked open the door to see a much shorter woman standing behind a steaming dish covered by a sterling silver dome-shaped covering. The smile she plastered on her face wavered slightly on account of fright when a towering man with tousled blondish-white hair grimaced down at her. The slight dark tint encircling his piecing blue eyes fell to her with a dry scowl when he opened the door completely.

He pulled the tray past the door frame and turned to her while reaching into his pocket. Unaware what he sought after in his pocket, the young hotel waiter took a few small steps in the opposite direction of the door. Much to her dismay, he began to chuckle.

"I know I look like bloody murder", he pulled a few twenty-dollar bills from his wallet, folded them and hided it to her. "But I'm innocent, I swear."

Her eyes lit up at the generous token of courtesy from the tall man. "Thank you so much, sir. Enjoy your stay, Mr. Uzumaki." She smiled brightly and departed as Minato closed the door.

The clock struck 2:15.

He rolled the odd looking tray to the side of his bed before beginning to undress for the night. He walked over to the large window of the suite and pulled the curtain shut. His tie, socks, shirt and slacks fell to the floor before he stepped in to the bathroom. The smell of artificial pine greeted him as he peered into the shower. His phone rang loudly atop the nightstand. He could see his wife's name displayed across the screen prompting him to abandon his reflection in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, Kush, I completely forgot."

"It's ok. I always factor your amnesia into my day."

"Is that supposed to be a crack at my age?"

"No, that was not a crack at your age, which isn't that far from mine. That was a warning, call me when you land next time or I'll have to start following you on your business trips."

"I'm shocked you haven't been doing that already."

"Don't tempt me."

"Well, I landed", he said sardonically. "Happy?"

"Yes, I'm happy. Forgive me for caring."

"You don't just care, you obsess."

"I'm a middle aged mother. Are we really surprised?"

A spoon could be heard clanking against a steel pot near the receiver.

"Do you remember the last time you cooked and talked on the phone at the same time?"

"Yes, I remember."

"I'm not replacing another phone because you drop it in alfredo or spaghetti sauce."

"You didn't replace it last time either. I did."

"Whatever, I'm too tired to talk about sauce and phones."

"Did you call Naruto?"

"Yeah, three times. He hasn't been answering my calls."

"Maybe he's busy."

"He's never been too busy to answer my calls before."

"I don't think you understood what I just said. I said maybe he's 'busy'."

Minato paused for a second. "You don't think he's still…?"

"Have you had your head up your ass for the last year and a half?"

"Having your head up your ass is good sometimes. It's safe up there. Up there you can't hear about your son's deviant behavior."

"You know full well why he isn't answering your calls."

"Maybe he really is busy. For goodness sake, he just got drafted into for one of the best teams in the whole country."

"Live in denial all you like, but I'd much rather be honest."

"I'm sure it's all a big misunderstanding. I'm meeting him tomorrow."

"I thought you said he isn't answering your calls?"

"He isn't. Sakura's been relaying my messages."

"And you still think he isn't with Gaara."

"Don't say his name."

"Why not?"

"Just don't."

"What the hell is your deal with this kid? He hasn't done anything to you."

"Kushina, I'm warning you. Drop it."

"The only thing he's done is make your son happy."

"You don't know a damned thing about what he's doing to our son!"

Kushina paused.

She turned the burner on the stove off.

"You're wrong. I know exactly what he's doing to our son. I'm his mother. It's my job to know a thing like that. I know full well that he's risking his career. I'm well aware that they might not even be able to get married or have children. And I'm well aware of what people are going to say about them and it eats me up inside whenever I think about them together. Sometimes, I find myself feeling just like you do right now, wishing, longing, hoping, praying that he'll drop this whole thing and settle down with some nice girl."

"…"

"And, forgive me for saying this, but, at least when he was with Charlotte, our relatives still asked about him."

"Now we're the fucking black sheep."

"…But then I remember, that's not what he wants, that's what I want."

"…"

"And I'd never forgive myself if I let my son live his life in misery just to please me. What kind of mother would that make me? What kind of person would that make me?"

Minato released a deep sigh.

"I hear what you're saying, but the thought of my son, my flesh and blood, living like one of those people…sleeping with one of those people, it just doesn't sit right with me. It's different for men. It isn't as easy for us to accept that."

"Maybe if you sat down and talked to him, maybe you wouldn't be so ill at ease."

"I'm going to see Naruto tomorrow."

"I wasn't talking about Naruto."

"I don't have anything to say to him."

"You don't even know him."

"I'd like to keep it that way."

"Odds are you won't have a choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If he was with Naruto today, then they will most likely be together tomorrow."

"I'm not entertaining this. I'm going to bed."

"We're not supposed to go to bed angry at one another."

"I'm not angry. I'm just averse to the idea of letting some gay whore corrupt my family."

"Minato!"

"It's only the truth."

"You should think yourself lucky that Karura is all the way in Atlanta. She'd have your head for talking about her son like that."

"You've been talking to his mother?!"

"I'm a grown woman. I can befriend whomever I please."

"Great! Now you and his goddamned mother are best-buddies."

"He's from a small town and his mother just wanted to see that he was looked after."

"Are you hearing yourself? This backwoods frau has you two hoodwinked into babysitting her flaming homosexual son and you don't even realize it."

"First of all, I resent the implication that these people are beneath us or that I'm a poor judge of character. He's only 20 years old and he's in one of the biggest fucking cities in the whole country, alone. You do the math."

"It's called a plane. If she's so goddamned worried about her kid she can fly up here and look after him herself."

"As usual you're missing the bigger picture."

"Enlighten me."

"Don't you get it? She trusts Naruto. You may not realize it, but not everyone has the resources to hop on a plane across the country at whim. Believe it or not, some people have to make sacrifices for their children. She has to trust someone she's never met to be a friend to her only child, in a way that she can't. As a mother and as a woman who's endured what she has, that's probably the hardest fucking thing she's ever had to do. And that's one hell of a compliment to the kind of man Naruto's become."

"…"

"So please forgive me if I gave her a little reassurance that our son would do anything for someone that he loved."

"While you're at it, why don't we just invite the both of them over for dinner and have a great big pre-nuptial jamboree."

"You're not funny."

"And you're not going to give this kid any false hope."

"False hope? Minato, you're a brilliant man. But you're absolutely mad if you think there's anything you or I can do to stop Naruto from going through with this. If there's anyone holding onto false hope here, it's you."

"Just in case you've forgotten. I've met this Garret person before and it turned into a fucking circus."

"You accused him of being a hustler!"

"Who's to say I was wrong? He dressed the part."

"Go ahead. Make jokes. But there's nothing more unpredictable than life, I've learned that lesson from you. And you just might be seeing a lot more of him than you think."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Minato."

A set of tires unfolded and screeched onto a runway at LAX as the soft and seductive glow of the 5 am sun peered slowly over the jagged skyline of Los Angeles.

Inside the terminal Gabriel waited on an uncomfortable bench near the baggage claim as his tired eyes struggled to stay open. His sinking head of gray hair tapped his daughter's shoulder as she too struggled to stay awake.

The growing noise from the bustling terminal drowned out even his inner thoughts, and any unfounded fears that something may have happened. His surroundings managed to give him a glimmer of the driving force behind the man trying to piece back together what was once his family.

Marcia looked down at her watch.

"When do they plan on landing that damned plane?"

"You try landing a plane. I heard it's pretty tough."

"Yeah, so am I when its 5 a.m. and I'm not in bed."

"Keep your panties on. He should be here any minute now."

"I'm just saying, if they say they're going to land at 5:15, the wheels should be hitting the runway by at least 5:10. It's just common courtesy."

"I forgot how cranky you are when you're tired."

"You forget everything, dad."

"I do not." Gabriel said sitting up.

"Do I need to remind you about the incident with your last doctor's appointment, or my graduation from hair school, or Harold's birthday?"

"I don't remember forgetting anything about those days."

"I rest my case."

"You know, I'm getting tired of you making me feel old."

"You're almost 72. A number 2 pencil would make you feel old."

"You say that like I'm dead already."

"Well, it's the truth. You just had back surgery a few months ago and you have no business sitting on an airport bench at five in the morning."

"That isn't fair. You know why he's doing this", Gabriel protested. "You'd turn into a madman too if you didn't have your family. Harold's at the age now where he can't be sure how long he'll be around. Don't get me wrong, he's not afraid of dying. But you have no idea how frightening it is to be our age and being disconnected from your loved ones."

"But dad, even you have to admit, some narcissistic football jock and an oil tycoon can't be the nicest bunch in the world if they aren't even the least bit interested in returning the favor. Why would he even want to be around people like that?"

"They're still his family."

"And didn't you say his son hated him?"

"Deeply", Gabriel said gravely sighing. "Once, when Harry and his ex-wife went to see him, Minato had them arrested for trespassing."

"Who the hell would have their own parents arrested?"

"Well, Harry always says how awful they were to him. Both of them had affairs. And they fought like wild animals."

"Maybe it's because you and I are so close, but I can't imagine anyone treating their parents like that. And what about his mother? What I wouldn't give to see mama again, I can't even fathom treating her like some common criminal."

Gabriel looked tenderly into his daughter's eyes. A nostalgic tear fell from her eye. "Look at me, I always find some way to get sappy over mom", she chuckled through her pain.

The older man reached his arm around her shoulder. "You know her birthday's in few days."

"You remembered?"

"How could I forget? I'll never forget that one time I did forget. She waited until we went to bed that night to knock me over the head and call me a brainless bum", he said as they both laughed heartily. Gabriel paused briefly as his smile faded slightly. "God, I miss that woman."

Marcia smiled brightly. "Me too."

"And what a great birthday present."

"What do you mean?"

"Her daughter is the first business owner in the family", he beamed proudly.

She laughed softly. "It's just a hair salon, dad."

"It's yours, isn't it?"

"Yeah", she said. "In that case, I suppose I am a business owner."

"She would be so proud of you", he said wiping the tears from her eyes. "Just like I am."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

The passengers from Harold's flight began to pool into the baggage claim.

"I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you and Greg." Gabriel sighed peacefully. "The best times of my life have been with you two."

A tall man approached with a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"I guess you two really aren't morning people", Harold said standing over the other side of the black bench. Gabriel turned around to see him smiling down at the two of them. He noticed a dejected quality about him despite his outwardly content demeanor.

Harold leaned down to kiss the both of them. "Miss me?"

Marcia shot him a dirty look. "At this hour, I don't think you want my answer."

He emitted a deep chuckle. "I guess that means I'm driving." Marcia flippantly tossed him the keys to her car.

Gabriel got up and took the large bag from his husband's shoulder. "Are you sure? That was a long flight."

"I'm positive", he smiled, motioning for the exit. "Come on, we better get going."

The three of them began making their way to the exit as another older man crossed paths with them.

He looked to be around Harold's age and held the hand of a sleepy toddler with a tiny red backpack trailing behind him. The little boy looked at the three of them with a puzzled stare as he passed by. The taller man looked away regretfully as they walked through the automatic doors.

Aside from the steady bumps of the freeway, and the sound of Marcia's soft breathing as she slept in the back seat, the car remained silent as Gabriel was afraid to ask about the latest unsuccessful attempt to repair Harold's family.

Ok, maybe I'll just wait until he brings it up. Then he won't have to talk about it until he's ready. But then again, he might have another plan hatched already.

The poor guy, he thought as he looked over to Harold, his deep blue eyes fixated on the road ahead. All he wants is a second chance to prove that he's a good father and he can't even have that. No one deserves this kind of treatment. Everyone makes mistakes, I'm pretty sure his son has made mistakes with his son before. There are some decisions I've made that I wish I could change.

Doesn't he know his father loves him more than life itself? God knows he never stops talking about him. Maybe if I could just convince him…he'd probably have me arrested for trespassing too. If he'd call the police on his own parents there's no telling what he'd do to me.

Still, I suppose the idea isn't that crazy.

"Tired?"

Gabriel, abruptly ejected from his thoughts, struggled to find the answer. "Uh…no, I'm fine."

"What had you two so sappy back there?"

"We were just talking."

"About what?"

"Everything. You, me, the kids, Rose…"

"That's right, her birthday's coming up." Harold smiled slightly. "I'm surprised you remembered."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You forget everything."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because it's true", Harold said with a hint of a grin at his partner's growing frustration.

"It is not true."

"You remember that time you walked home from the grocery store?"

"How else was I supposed to get home?"

"I don't know, maybe by driving, the same way you got there."

"That happened one time!"

"Twice."

"I think I would remember if that happened twice."

"I rest my case."

They sat silent for a moment, the urge to ask about the trip growing too strong for Gabriel to resist.

"If you're waiting to ask me about the trip, you don't have to." Harold said blankly, keeping his eyes on the road to conceal the anguish swelling beneath them. "It's not worth talking about."

Gabriel fixated his gaze onto his profile, trying to decipher meaning from his last statement. "So…what's next?"

"Nothing", he said indifferently. "I'm giving up."

Dumbfounded, Gabriel sat up in the passenger seat. His mouth hung open in disbelief. The idea of Harold's essential purpose in many of the years of their relationship being tossed out was not only unbelievable but chillingly foreboding.

"What do you mean you're giving up?"

Harold took the nearest exit off the freeway. Gabriel began to grow wary of the explanation behind what his partner had just uttered. He pulled up to a twenty-four hour service station and parked in the front of the lot. He turned the engine off and reached over to grab the younger man's hand.

"Harold you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"Gabe, you know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do."

"And I want you to know that regardless of the outcome of this last minute trip, that I'll always love you."

"I love you too, Harry."

"I can't keep doing this to you, to us."

"You haven't done anything to me."

"What I mean is, I've decided to just let them live their lives, without me."

"But they're your family. They've been all you could think about for years. And you got so close, why stop now?"

"I saw Minato."

"You did? Why didn't you tell me? What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter. The point is that it didn't go well, at all. In fact, I think I did more harm than good."

Gabriel's expression went from hopeful to condoling. "I'm so sorry, honey."

Harold paused for a second to find the words to say. "You know the one thing that's been driving me all these years?"

"What?"

"It may sound a little silly, but the one thing that I want to do before I die is to feel like a grandfather."

"But you are a grandfather."

"In a matter of speaking I am, but what good is that if I don't feel like one?"

"Being a grandfather isn't a feeling. You either have grandchildren or you don't."

"What do I have to show for it? My son wishes I was dead and my grandson thinks I'm dead."

"…."

"I didn't think it was possible before", the older man said, the tears brimming in his eyes contrasting with his cynical smile. "But I'm going to the first man in LA to die while already being dead."

"Can you please cut back on the references to death? You're not going anywhere and neither am I."

"It's true", he choked out as Gabriel caressed his arm. "My own family thinks I'm dead. The only person willing to vouch for the fact that he's even my son is Rachel and she's too fucking preoccupied with her damned restaurant to care about anything else. The only person who believes that Minato is my son is me. And what if Naruto wants to have kids one day? It'll just be another generation that thinks I'm dead!"

"That's not true. I believe you. We all believe you."

Marcia's eyes opened slightly in the back seat. She knew he'd stop his unusual display of vulnerability if he knew she was listening. She knew he would do anything to prove that he was sturdy-enough man for her father, even hide the thing that was killing him faster than his age. She listened secretly.

"You have no idea how fucking terrible Rachel and I were to that kid. No child should ever have to hear his dad call his mother a goddamned cock-sucking cunt on his birthday in front of all of his friends and family. I did that. I've been so angry at her that I've said that we should have never had him. What kind of father says that to his son?"

Gabriel sat helplessly in silence at the outpouring of his partner's guilt. He wanted to stop him but he knew that the words he spoke, the tears he cried, had been bottled in for all of his adult life.

"One time, when his mother and I weren't talking to one another, he couldn't have been more than five years old; he wrote us this little note on this mini dry erase board, telling us how much he loved us and begging us to make up. You know what I did with that board? I snapped it in half because I thought it was another one of his mother's twisted mind games."

"So you see? I've realized that I can't expect Minato to forgive us for what we did to him. I'm not even sure I can forgive myself."

Gabriel leaned in. "But you have to, Harry. You wanna know what's really going to kill you? Guilt. If you keep hating yourself for what happened all those years ago, the rest of your life is going to be miserable. And I love you too much to let you do that."

"Gabe, you sacrificed everything for your daughter. You gave her everything a father should and more. Now, you have the luxury of spending the rest of your life with her and Greg. But me, I won't get that same reward. No matter how much I reason with myself about how it was a rough time for me or how everyone makes mistakes, the truth is that I was and still am a shitty father. And I knew one day I'd have to pay a price for the things I did."

Harold used his large hand to wipe the tears from his soaked face. "So if losing my family is the price I have to pay for that", he said looking back at the road. "Then so be it."

The rising of the sun warmed the sheets of the bed as the buzzing of the elevator outside could be heard faintly in the distance. His phone was ringing loudly on the nightstand next to the both of them. He yawned indulgently, hoping the caller would eventually give up their pursuit. After the phone stopped ringing the alarm clock began to toll loudly. A tattooed arm smacked the 'off' button, and the room returned to silence.

Gaara's sleeping form melted onto Naruto's chest as the sun's rays illuminated their bodies through the glass of the windows. The two laid awake, neither wanting to open their eyes, neither wanting to interrupt the silence that coated the room. The silence meant that only their lovemaking was their reality, just as it always had been. The morning ushered in the truth of what they were and what they had become.

Naruto's phone rang again. "Shit."

He reached over and looked at the screen.

Dad.

He looked down at Gaara as he slept quietly and looked back at the phone before answering.

"Dad… hey."

"Hey…I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, I can talk. What's up?"

"I've been trying to call you lately. Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine. Sorry about that. It's this damn phone. I need a new one", he said with a nervous laugh. "But I hear you're in Manhattan on business."

"Just a few meetings, that's all."

"So I guess you won't be here long."

"Just for today. But I was hoping if you had some time today, we could grab a bite to eat, catch up."

"Of course, how about three? There's this great place on fifth."

Gaara stirred slightly before turning to the other side of the bed.

"By the way, how's mom?"

"She's doing great," he said. "In fact, the governor's wife just asked her to plan her next event."

"That's amazing. How are my godparents anyway?"

"Damned if I know." He said with a wispy laugh. "It's been a while since we've caught up with each other."

"She was always good with the big wigs."

"Can't argue with that one", a door closed as a voice could be heard summoning Minato. "Well, that's me. I'd better go before these geezers shit their pants. Call you around three?"

"Sounds good."

Gaara opened his eyes just as they were saying their goodbyes and he heard the phone hit the nightstand. He was about to drift back to sleep when he felt Naruto's warm arms encircling him from behind, his gruff chin brushing against the back of his neck.

"Who was that?"

"My dad", he said, his deep voice vibrating against the small of Gaara's back.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I didn't sound like him."

"What do you mean?"

"Normally when you two are on the phone you sound like two reunited frat brothers."

"Yeah", Naruto chuckled nostalgically. "I guess that did feel a little awkward."

"Well, I guess whatever weirdness that's going on will be solved when you two meet."

"I could always call and cancel."

"Why would you do that?"

"You're here."

"I live less than thirty minutes away; you can see me anytime you want. Your dad lives all the way in LA; I think it's fair to say he takes precedence."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Besides, he might need someone to talk to. I hear it can be awfully lonely at the top."

"He has my mother to talk to."

"Your mother's a woman. There might be some things he has on his mind that only another man can provide the proper ear for…"

Naruto chuckled. "What with the sudden fixation on my dad? I thought you two hated each other. He hates you for sure."

"Hate is a pretty strong word, but far be it from me to speak for your father. All I can say is that I don't hate him. I hardly know the guy. It's just…."

"What?"

"Minato may be a little rough around the edges, but he cares about you, he loves you and anyone could tell he's proud of you, probably more proud than you or I will ever know. You two have the kind of relationship most fathers and sons would give anything for, it's a rare thing that you two have. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put myself down, but I'm not worth compromising your relationship with him."

Naruto's blank expression rested into the back of Gaara's neck.

"Besides, you could have much worse. Trust me, I lived with him."

The older man paused, still grasping Gaara's shocking revelation of his respect for Minato. He was suddenly reminded of the conversation.

"Do you ever think about your dad?" Naruto caressed Gaara's arm. "I mean, in a positive light."

He sighed. "If you had met my father you would understand why thinking about him isn't the best idea, unless of course you ever need a reminder on what not to do to your family."

"There must've been some good memories, or at least one."

"There wasn't much to remember about him. He worked a lot and on the rare occasion that he was home he was wasted off his ass, angry, and either kicking the shit out of my mother, or me for trying to stop him."

An ill feeling settled upon Naruto's heart as Gaara shifted slightly in his arms. "Some shitty home life."

"Well", Gaara said as that memory came to his mind. "There was this one time when I was about two or three, on Christmas morning, he let me climb on his back and he let me ride him over to the tree."

"See, there's one", Naruto said trying to make out some trace of felicity in his lover's childhood.

"My mom tells me that story all the time. It's changed over the years. I think she tells me that so I won't completely hate him. I could never hate my father anyway, even after all he did."

"After all that happened, I'm pretty sure it was hard not to."

"Tell me about it", Gaara said with a short sigh. "But in time we both moved on with our lives. My mom's career took off. Soon mine will do the same, hopefully."

Naruto remembered to tell him something that had been weighing on him heavily. "By the way, about your showcase…"

"You can't make it?"

"I think I must've gotten the dates mixed up. My first game is that morning and its back in LA." He massaged Gaara's side with his thumb. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said secretly relieved. I'll have enough to worry about that day without having to worry about him being seen there with me. "It's just a showcase, nothing big. Besides, you're a busy man now."

"Still, it was important to you", Naruto said. "That's why I'm going to make it up to you."

"How?"

"You'll see."

"Now I'm scared."

"Why?"

"Because now I have to anticipate some demented lesbian clown popping out of a cake wearing a strap-on."

Naruto burst into laughter.

"Don't laugh. It was a very traumatic experience for me."

His laughter died down briefly. "I've got to hear this one"

"On my fourth birthday, my aunt Meira bought me this enormous vanilla crème cake. It was so big that my uncle had to haul it in on his flatbed truck. I was ecstatic. Little did I know, my aunt hired a clown to jump out of the cake after I blew out the candles. Well, since there were more birthdays in April than available clowns in our town, she found one out of the personals column in the newspaper. I've hated surprises ever since."

"What a birthday that must've been."

"My mother and my aunt didn't talk for a whole month. And that's a long time for two women who normally talk three times a day."

He kissed the nape of Gaara's neck, his hand trailing down his side, then down his back.

"What are you doing?"

"Breakfast."

"You have a meeting in an hour."

"So?" He pulled Gaara closer to his midsection, his erection pressing between his legs.

"Don't I at least get a say in this?"

"No."

"You're not going to want to get up if we have sex, especially since we're in your bed now", Gaara said playfully. He gently freed himself from Naruto's advances before climbing out of the bed. Naruto sat up and yanked him back into his lap.

"Where are you going?"

Gaara struggled to get back up, against Naruto's stronghold. "If you can manage to stop being a horny toad for one second, I was going to the bathroom."

He finagled himself out of the older man's grasp again only to receive a hard slap on his ass.

Naruto, upon hearing the door close, got up walked over to his closet and spotted the notebook he swiped from Gaara's apartment sticking out from its hiding place underneath the mattress. He briefly wondered if Gaara knew it was there or if the night's brief events caused it to stick out into plain sight. He heard the faucet turn on in the bathroom and picked up the black book. Thumbing through the pages he stopped near the makeshift binding where he saw his name. It suddenly struck him that all other letters were printed with the exception of his name which was always written in cursive.

'…he'd never let me live it down. I try my best to keep my head on my shoulders but sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming. I don't like to ramble on like this, I sound like one of those silly gold-digging men I see on TV snorting up their husband's money and success like it's fucking cocaine,' Naruto chuckled. 'But things like this don't happen to people like me.'

'Where I'm from the most famous person I would ever see was the governor of Louisiana. He always came to our town to pretend like he was going to do something about the poverty in Bienville. The most the bastard did was take some pictures, and hit the road back to his mansion.

I remember the first night I met Naruto. I had seen him on TV several times. At that point it was like you couldn't get away from him. I was so tired that day, I had been on my feet literally all day, so naturally, when he told me his name it took me a while to make the connection. When the light bulb finally came on in my head, I nearly went into cardiac arrest. A famous person had just hit on me. After the initial shock I started to see him in a different light.'

'I've never met a man like Naruto. Most of the men in my life have all turned out to want something from me that I wasn't willing to give for what they offered, which was usually nothing. With him, he keeps trying to give me more and won't ask me for anything. Forgive me, but that's a new concept for me, especially where I'm from. In Bienville, everybody is a nobody who wants to be a somebody. Sometimes I try to put him into a category from a bygone experience but he never seems to fit. I think perhaps that might be why I'm so attracted him.

'I've had to learn to be strong but he can make me weak without even trying. But I know I'm not the only one. When he made love to me for the first time, he left an impression in me that only he can occupy. I could almost weep for those that he's loved in the past.'

'Yeah, he's famous, but when we're together, it's like no one else in the world matters to him but us. There's something about me that he likes but I have no earthly clue what it is. Is it my body? Is it the way I dress? Perhaps it's the way I'm always shooting him down. Maybe he likes me because I don't want his money, or than I couldn't care less about how famous he is, or that after everything that's happened I'm still here. I just wish he would just come out and say it. I don't like surprises, which is pretty unfortunate considering the fact that he's full of them.'

'But I have to remember, whatever it is, that there is a perpetual possibility that he'll eventually lose interest in me. I'm no fool; I know how these stories end all too well.'

'I see things like this happening to people all the time, finding the love of their life and then having the rug pulled out from under them without even a moment's notice, living in a world of love and romance and having that world turned upside down in the blink of an eye. I used to take pity on the poor idiots who fell in love. My professor always says that the dance is different when you're the one on stage; it's like waiting for the gunshot. Maybe, it won't happen like I say, maybe he won't get tired of me, or maybe I'm just being cynical, insecure. Still, it's a scary thing to think about. Forgive me for sounding childish, but I'm afraid, more afraid than I've ever been in my entire life.'

'I'm afraid to let him know how much I love him. Something like that can get used against you. And I really do love him. I love him like I've never loved anyone ever before. I'd love him just as much even if I were another name on the list of his past. I'd love him even if he didn't love me.'

'In any case, I'll enjoy this ride. And God help me when it ends.'

Naruto's heart began to pound faster as he tossed the book back underneath his mattress. He'd have to sneak the book back into Gaara's bag later. All of the answers to the questions he had been asking himself about Gaara since they had met were all spelled out on the stolen pages. He almost felt guilty for having read it without the permission of its owner. He'd never seen such private thoughts written on paper, much less thoughts that were about him. More so, he felt invited by the challenge to see what else rested beneath the surface.

Gaara emerged from the bathroom, his naked body outlined by the light coming from the opening of the door. He stood mired in Naruto's gaze. His smile faded as he began to grow wary of the blonde haired man's inner thoughts. His blue eyes were frozen in an expression of bewilderment. A sour feeling began to stir in the pit of Gaara's heart as he began to mentally survey all of the motivations behind Naruto's intense gaze.

"What's wrong?"

His scrutiny persisted as though he were trying to materialize the image of Gaara as he wrote and pair it with his current nude form. Perhaps then he could wrap his consciousness around the brimming testimonial that he'd just pirated. His sea-foam green eyes softly reproduced all of his vulnerable script. His very body was the encompassment of his every fear of being abandoned and left alone, his capacity to love with his eyes closed.

"Naruto?"

He was catapulted out of his inner inquiry. "Yeah."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

"What was it?"

Naruto shrugged it off as he entered the closet. "It was nothing."

Gaara paused for a moment before following him.

"You can tell me."

The taller man was caught slightly off guard when he saw Gaara next to him. He turned to him and smirked as he ran his hand through his red hair. Gaara smiled, his cheeks tingling.

"I just can't believe that you're here with me. I could've just as easily been alone…after all that's happened."

Gaara stood speechless as the gradual unfolding of their affair finally began to show signs of reality. The same realness was the only thing preventing him from protesting to the love he thought he'd never receive.

"Well, I'm sure there must be at least one other person to keep you company other than me", he said jokingly. He became slightly disheartened when Naruto's expression didn't change.

"Maybe." He came within inches of Gaara, his breath bouncing off the surface his face. "But right now, I guess no one else seems to be able to say the right words like you can."

Naruto leaned down to kiss him as Gaara rose to the balls of his feet to reach his taller counterpart. He reached over to the cluster of suits hanging next to them. When their lips parted, he pulled one down with silk lapels and Naruto's initials stitched in blue on the inside of the sleeve. He placed against his bare chest making the taller man smirk slightly.

"I think you'd look quite endorsable in this one."

Naruto walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. After collecting himself, Gaara heard the shower door close before going into the bed room and looking for his bag. He commenced to think to himself and about the night's unfortunate cap. He pulled out a pair of black leg warmers and slipped into the rest of his body remaining nude. There was a deep seated urge in him to do something productive. He ventured into the kitchen and surveyed Naruto's pots pans and grocery supply.

"I think I can make this stretch", he said boastfully to no one. The burners on the stove failed to compare to the burning passion being fanned within him as his inner inhibitions began their torpid decay.

About thirty minutes passed as the two occupied separate sections of Naruto's loft until he emerged in a suit and tie. He walked into the kitchen to see a plate of scrambled eggs, strips of bacon, steaming sausage, a small assortment of fruit, and four golden biscuits all lain out on the dinner table and a protein shake in a glass. He looked over near the range in the kitchen to see Gaara wiping the counter with a wet dish rag, his half-nude physique briefly occupying Naruto's attention.

"I could've sworn I was only in the bathroom for thirty minutes." He said grinning, walking closer to Gaara. "Where did all of this come from?"

"Well, I just assumed that you got so beefy from eating a big breakfast every morning", Gaara said sarcastically as he knocked on the older man's bicep. "You're welcome."

"You didn't have to do all of this."

"I wanted to", he said looking down briefly. "Just to say thank you."

"For carrying you upstairs?" He said smirking as he looked down at his watch and sitting down at the table.

"For letting me stay the night, jackass", Gaara said, laughing lightly. "As you probably gathered from last night, my place gets kind of rowdy on a Friday night, you know with all the car thieves and drug dealers and teenagers and what not." Gaara turned around to turn the burners off on the stove. He came around and sat across from Naruto, who'd already cleared away half the food before them.

Gaara gave him an odd look as he devoured every morsel. "You know you still have half an hour to get downtown."

"I know."

"So don't you think you should give yourself time to breathe?"

"I miss your food."

"You've only eaten it once."

"That's why I miss it so much."

"I didn't know I was that good at cooking", Gaara lifted a brow.

"It probably doesn't help that, other than you, I haven't been cooked for since I was in high school", Naruto said with his mouth full of food.

"High school?" Gaara looked at him incredulously. "Charlotte didn't cook?"

"Nope."

"What about your mother?"

Naruto laughed out loud. "The only time she ever touched a stove was when one of her cooks didn't show up at one of her events."

Gaara's vison trailed off in surprise. "That sounds awful."

"Who taught you?" He said wiping his mouth with a beige decorative cloth next to him. His heart warmed as an enchantingly warm presence befell the table as his younger lover began to describe the anecdote of his younger days.

"My mom, my aunt, my uncles, they would all come over for holidays and each person would cook their own dish in our kitchen; I would always sneak in and watch them", Gaara said smiling nostalgically. "Sometimes during the summer, my mom and I would take the bus to New Orleans to watch the cooking demonstrations in the casinos."

"Well, you aunts and uncles must be some kick-ass cooks. That was fucking delicious", Naruto said grinning.

"I can tell", Gaara replied looking down at the empty table. Naruto caught his gaze down at the polished off plates between and felt a tinge of guilt.

"Shit, I'm sorry Gaara", Naruto said looking at his watch again. "I still have enough time to go get you something."

"It's ok. I wasn't hungry."

"Are you sure? I'm sure you don't want to start cooking again, there's a nice place just around the corner", he offered apologetically. "My treat."

Gaara chuckled at his contemporary's guilty speech. "I'm positive. Really, I'll eat later."

Naruto got up from the table. "Have you seen my keys?"

"Didn't you just have them?"

"Those were your keys."

Gaara rose to his feet and stopped Naruto's search. "What were you doing with my keys?"

"I was trying to hide them", Naruto said with a playful gleam in his eyes. "That way I can keep you here as long as possible."

"You're a sick man, Naruto Uzumaki, a sick man indeed", Gaara said patting the older man on his shoulder. He reached over to the kitchen counter to grab a set of keys before handing them to the smirking man in front of him.

"You tossed them on the counter last night."

"How do I get along without you?" He said caustically, giving Gaara a firm slap on the rear. He felt a surge of sensual energy streak through his body as he saw Naruto's eyes devouring him.

"I think you got along just fine."

He turned on the balls of his feet and started for the bedroom. Naruto looked after him, internally searching for the right words to say in order to counter his lover's impending departure. He knew if he said nothing, Gaara would eventually leave and the gnawing game of chance meetings and surprise rescues would again ensue.

"You know you should spend the night more often." He said, making Gaara stop and turn around. He suddenly began to feel his nakedness and wished he'd put on more than legwarmers.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You just got signed to a new team, you're a busy man", he declined regrettably. "Don't get me wrong, you've got an amazing place, but I wouldn't want to be here by myself."

Naruto grabbed his coat from the rack and approached Gaara. "Do you remember what I told you last night?"

Gaara looked down briefly before Naruto lifted his chin up. "Do you?"

"I remember."

"I meant it, every word", he said forthrightly. "I'd never let you feel unimportant. Those days are over, I promise."

The younger man smiled as his heart soared through his feet. Beherrsch dich. "Still, I had better get going pretty soon."

Naruto paused. "Actually, I was hoping you would stay."

"For how long?"

"Well, I'll be back around four and I wanted to take you to this place by the Bay", he encircled his arms around Gaara's waist. "I made reservations."

Gaara fidgeted uncomfortably in his grasp, feeling increasingly self-conscious in his lack of attire. "I don't know. I had some errands to run today, I have a paper due in a few days, I have to look for another job…"

"Don't you already have two?"

"I had three", Gaara pointed out. "Until my sleazy boss tried to put his tongue in my mouth."

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Naruto inquired rhetorically, attempting to hide the disdain in his voice.

"Getting crushed by a 300-pound lineman is extreme, yet you never hear me complain about your job."

"That's completely different."

"How so?"

"I'm getting paid pretty handsomely to get crushed by that 300-pound lineman", Naruto said in a mature tone. "And football isn't a 'job' for me any more than ballet is a job for you."

"Look, you have your way of making money, I have mine."

"Still, don't you think you should cut back even just a little? I may not be an expert on dance, but I at least know it's pretty taxing", Naruto said as he began to realize that his words were falling on deaf ears.

"Life is taxing. You have an espresso shot and get over it", Gaara stated flatly. "Amidst all of my father's drunken, angry and unintelligible yelling he gave me one useful tip. He said waiting for someone to help you is time that could be better spent helping yourself."

Naruto looked down at his cynical counterpart incredulously. "I can't believe you're quoting your father."

"Other than an ice cream cone at the county fair and DNA, that was the only thing he ever gave me", Gaara said misanthropically as he freed himself from Naruto's clutches and returned to the kitchen to put the dishes away.

The older man regretted his words quickly. "I didn't mean it like that", he said following him.

"My tuition isn't going to pay for itself, so can we please talk about something else?" The younger said while grabbing a dirty plate and pouring dish soap onto its surface.

"No, we can't talk about something else", Naruto cornered him and took the wet platter out of his hand. "And stop doing my dishes; you're not my fucking maid."

"Fine. Then we just won't talk at all", he said brazenly to the man in front of him. "Because when I leave here today I'm going to look for another job."

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"Of course, I can just whip out my trusty magical wand and make some cash appear", Gaara said derisively. "Thanks for the tip."

"You know what I mean." Frustration began to well in Naruto's voice.

"I'm afraid I don't."

Naruto sighed deeply in vexation.

Gaara walked past him and made his way towards the bedroom for a pair of pants, feeling his sensuality and enticement falling flat. Naruto watched as he walked away still finding the words that would break the barrier that antagonized him. He could hear rummaging through a bag in the other room before he saw the red headed dancer in the doorway slipping a few articles of clothing out of a bag. Before he could put them on he heard footsteps following him.

Naruto met him halfway to the bedroom in the foyer.

Gaara placed his hand on his temple. "Why are you so bent on helping me when you know I don't want you to?"

The older man smiled subtly. "When I see someone I love in trouble, it's my natural reaction to do everything I can."

"Well, cut it out."

The taller man laughed. "You're impossible."

"Yet the pursuit continues."

"Just answer me one question", Naruto said conceding slightly. "If you're working three jobs and going to school, when the hell do you sleep?"

Gaara opened mouth to give a rebuttal but nothing came out. He had been dreading the moment when Naruto would bring up the fact that he'd fallen asleep the night before. He looked up at him. "I'm not taking any handouts from you. So stop offering them."

Naruto sighed as his eyes grew more intense. "Look, I know you don't want my help. But at least take my advice", he said. "Think about it, Gaara. Do you have any idea how tired someone has to be to pass out?"

"I did not pass out. And I told you already, I'm fine."

"You're not fine", he said, the taller man's voice growing in volume. "You nearly fucking fell over on the way up here for fuck sake!"

"…."

Naruto recollected himself from his outburst. "You're always telling me that you can take care of yourself and I believe you", he said in a lower voice. "But I'd never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you."

Gaara clenched his teeth together as pride prevented him from speaking. Not wanting to appear weak he looked away fiercely fighting the urge to concede to the older man's hand. Naruto grasped his chin and caressed his face with his thumbs. His intense blue eyes softened.

"I have to go, but I want you to be here when I get back", Naruto said, as his hands drifted back down to Gaara's waist. "So, will you please at least stay here and get some rest before you do anything?"

A moment of silence ensued between them. "Fine", Gaara said as he began to feel guilty for so prudently staving off Naruto's noble effort. "I'll stay. But just until you get back."

"What about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Remember that place by the Bay? We've got reservations at seven."

"I don't have anything to wear."

"It's nothing fancy."

"That's what you said the last time", Gaara pointed out accusingly. "Besides, it must be upscale if you had to make reservations."

"And I had to make them almost two weeks in advance, so we're going", he said pulling out his wallet. "There's a department store down the street…"

Gaara looked down at the actions of his generous hand. "What are you doing?"

"You said you needed something to wear, right?"

"You're already taking me to one of the most famous restaurants on the Upper East Side against my will", Gaara took Naruto's wallet and stuffed it back in the lining of his suit. "Don't push it."

"What are you going to do?"

"I can take the train back to my apartment to change."

"Why do that when you have me?" He smirked. "I'll take you when I get back."

"Can you stop being a fucking super hero for two seconds? It's starting to annoy me", Gaara cuffed.

Naruto smirked as he leaned in inches from Gaara's face. His eyes traveled over the entirety of Gaara's naked body. "Are you sure you don't want to stay another night, or a few nights? I wouldn't mind the company."

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

"Especially if you plan on cooking me breakfast naked every morning."

Gaara smiled satirically. "I don't."

"So, what do you say?" Naruto's eyes grew hungry.

"I'll think about it."

"What's to think about?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I do have a life outside of your bedroom."

"I'd say this arrangement would be perfectly convenient."

"How do you figure?"

"That catering company you work for caters events in Manhattan all the time, all the clubs you dance at are all within minutes of me, and I can literally see the ballet conservatory from my living room."

Gaara paused suspiciously as he gave Naruto an uncomfortable glance. "How do you know all of this?"

"I've been following you. But that's beside the point; staying here is damned good idea and you know it."

"Wait, wait, you've been following me? For how long?"

"About five months."

"You've been stalking me for the last five fucking months?!" Gaara's voice and face began to fill with anger as he pushed away from Naruto's intimate grasp.

"It's not that big a deal", Naruto said calmly.

"Not a big deal?! I should be running for my life right now!"

"In my defense it wasn't my idea."

Gaara gave him a look of disbelief. "Unless Congress asked you to spy on me, there isn't a defense good enough. But seeing as how I'm not that imperative to the country, I'm guessing my mother put you up to this."

"I didn't mind. She was genuinely concerned about you."

"If she was so genuinely concerned, why didn't she pick up the phone and call me like a normal person would do?"

"Because you probably wouldn't have been honest with her."

"I'm always honest."

"You're lying right now."

"And for a good reason, how do I know that you two don't have some twisted plot to sell my organs or something?"

"You need to stop watching those crime shows."

Gaara exhaled deeply to take the edge off of his languor. "You both had no right."

"You can't blame her. You're her only child and you're only twenty years old. Besides, I've lived here before; I know this city like the back of my hand."

"I'm not a child. I don't need you to look after me, like I'm some helpless sheep separated from the herd."

"I won't have to, if you move in", Naruto said coming closer again.

Gaara simply glared at him.

Naruto grasped his waistline again. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"If I find out you're following me again, I'm going to kick your ass."

"Sounds kinky."

"I wasn't joking."

"You couldn't hurt me-the man you love more than life itself."

"You won't have to find out if you stop fucking stalking me."

"I can't help but to worry about you", the older man said in a smooth voice. "I love you."

"I love you too, despite your ridiculous libido and stalking tendencies."

"You can help me improve if you move in with me."

"You're not going to stop until I say yes, are you?"

"I don't let things go very easily, in case you haven't noticed…"

Gaara straightened the lapels on Naruto's suit. "We'll leave that discussion for another day. You have an endorsement to win over."

"I'd much rather win you over", Naruto said as his phone started to buzz in his pocket, making Gaara laugh.

"I'm sure your manager would vehemently advise against that."

"What does she know?"

Gaara softly reached into Naruto's pocket and pulled out his phone. Naruto gave him a sultry glance before answering it. The young dancer walked over to the tin bucket next to the door and pulled out a long black umbrella. The clouds outside began to grow dark and gray, small pulsations of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"I'm on my way."

"You should be here already."

"The meeting doesn't start for another twenty minutes."

"Well excuse me for interrupting another episode of Lady and the Tramp."

"I'm walking out of the door now."

"Hurry up. My ass is on the line with this account."

Naruto hung up before whispering a few expletives to himself. Gaara handed him the umbrella with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that."

"About what?"

"Well, I know Sakura's giving you a lot of shit because of me. And she's not entirely wrong; I'm not exactly good publicity."

Naruto smiled just as the rain began to come down. The view of the skyline through the large glass living room window became blurred and distorted as he pulled Gaara close to him.

"Whether or not Sakura or anyone else approves, I'm a grown man. I'm fully capable of making my own decisions about who I want to be with, and I want you."

Gaara smiled in pure felicity as he inhaled the enthralling scent of Naruto's cologne. "It feels good to hear you say that."

Don't wake me up

Naruto leaned down and pressing his warm lips to Gaara's as his hands traveled leisurely around the taller man's neck. He could feel the ripples of the older man's biceps against his sides, firmly holding him, protecting him. The stubble from his chin brushed gently against Gaara's chin. He stepped onto the tops of Naruto's shoes, bringing him closer to his height. The younger of the two could feel the latter's hands journeying around the flesh of his bare fundament. Gaara's eyes opened widely when Naruto plunged his tongue into his mouth. He pulled back before their passion escaped their control.

"What's wrong?"

"You're going to be late."

"We still have time for a quick one."

"No we don't. You have to be downtown in a few minutes."

"I only need a few minutes."

"Get out of here", Gaara pushed the reluctant taller man in the direction of his exit.

"It's a good thing at least one of us is responsible", Naruto said before kissing Gaara briefly one last time and walking toward the door.

Before he opened the door he turned around and gave Gaara a quasi-stern glance. "Promise me you're going to rest while I'm gone."

Gaara smirked and lifted his right hand. "Scout's honor."

Naruto winked before disappearing behind the metal sliding door.

He could hear the increasingly quiet sound of Naruto's shoes clocking down the hall to the elevator; he felt the provocative inner pleasure of a powerful man who loved him charging through space. A man loved him and was brazen and unapologetic in that love. He almost felt guilty for not being able to cherish the moment more, for his fear of its vanishing never left him. The loft suddenly filled with a cool silence that drew a wave of fatigue over him. His entire body felt weak, his thoughts dreary and unclear like the view outside. The A/C turned on and a frigid draft briskly rushed past him from the vent above him, prompting him to wrap his arms around his cold torso.

The intensity of the rainfall outside increased.

Gaara walked over to the sofa and pulled the wool blanket from the armrest. There was something passionately alluring to the prospect of resting in Naruto's loft, alone. His thoughts of the older man satiated his mind as he began to drift into sleep atop Manhattan in the abode of the man he loved and that the world loved. An almost overwhelming sense of safety gently rested upon him. The horrors of his life and his past were all but annihilated as he laid himself down on the soft tan surface and pulled the warm blanket over him.

There were things that he needed to attend to but their relevance was washed away by the morning rain.

His fatigue reached the point of breaking.

He closed his eyes.

"I'm going to head over to the office."

"But it's Saturday."

"I know, I just have to catch up on some things before Monday."

Gabriel chose not to press the issue further in light of the week's previous events. Marcia gave the both of them skeptical looks from her position on the sofa.

Harold grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door.

"Aren't you going to take a shower?"

The door slammed before he bothered to answer. His steps could be heard going down the stairs just outside the door. The faded white clock on the wall struck twelve-thirty.

Gabriel sighed in defeat as he rose to his feet and looked over to Marcia, who was less than entertained by the introduction of what was to come of her step-father's moodiness. She simply straightened the magazine she was reading and refused to be the first to speak on the spectacle. An uncomfortable silence pervaded the room as Gabriel stood about, not knowing quite what to say or do to replace the object of his humiliation.

Beschӓmung.

There was foul stench coming from the street right next to their apartment building. Gabriel went into the bedroom and peered through the blinds. He squinted to see a mangled skunk that had been recently run over by a car, the squalid odor spreading like a wild fire, his intestines spilling from his gaping carcass.

"Another dead stinker?" Marcia asked from the living room.

"Yeah." Gabriel closed the blinds and reached down on the nightstand to turn on the scented wax warmer.

Her father walked over toward the kitchen. "I'm about to make some eggs, you want any?"

"Sure. Might as well make that awful smell even worse."

"It isn't that bad."

"Like hell it isn't. I don't know what possessed you two to get an apartment near the most horrid street in LA."

"That's a big statement, considering the fact that you haven't seen half the streets in LA."

"I'm just saying", she said looking around. "A place like this isn't fit for someone your age. You should be enjoying your life, not struggling to survive."

"Don't start."

"I don't have to. Harold's done quite fine without any help from me."

"You say that like you've never fallen on hard times."

"Yes, I have, but I had you to help me when I needed you. And now it's time for me to help you."

"I thought we already solved this disagreement. I'm not moving in with you."

"This neighborhood is overrun with drugs, rats and crime, not to mention the foul-smelling roadkill. At this point I don't think you have any better alternatives."

"I'll have you know we've never had any problems here."

"Except for the fact that Harold's car has been broken into twice already."

"We don't know for sure that someone smashed in the windows", Gabriel defended indignantly. "We had some really bad hailstorms that month."

Marcia massaged her temples in exasperation. "Will you at least admit that there needs to be a change?"

"Yes", Gabriel said with a pretentious expression. "This conversation definitely could use a change."

"You are the most stubborn man I've ever met."

"I'm not stubborn; I'm just tired of you implying that Harold isn't doing the best he can."

"He isn't", Marcia said flatly. "Instead of taking care of you he's been driving himself mad over his homophobic son."

"I'm not listening to this." He said as he reached underneath the counter and pulled out a large skillet. Marcia rose to her feet and placed both of her hands firmly on the counter in front of the sink, looking her father in the eyes.

"Well, you should listen, because it seems like I'm the only one in this house who's willing to admit that there is a serious problem."

"I know there's a problem, I'm not blind, Marcia," he said in frustration in his voice. "But you heard him in the car, I'm not sure if there's anything I can do for him anymore."

Marcia took a step back from the counter and sighed deeply. She knew her father would reject even the notion of the idea, but she knew neither of them would ever get a moment's rest if she didn't at least attempt to convince him.

"There is one thing that you can do for him."

Gabriel looked across to his daughter's eyes as her expression did not change.

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"You were going to suggest that I go talk to Minato."

"It isn't such a bad idea."

"It's an awful idea."

"It's not like we're planning to break into the Smithsonian."

"Maybe if I tell you in ten ways how bad that idea, hopefully you'll get the point. It's silly, ludicrous, doltish, feebleminded, incautious, cockamamie, fatuous, asinine, imbecilic, and outright injudicious."

"Now you're just showing off."

"Being an English professor has its perks", he said turning the burners on. "You get to tell people in various ways how dumb their ideas are."

"You've failed to tell me what's so bad about it."

"Were you not listening to me at the airport? If Minato's willing to have his own parents arrested, what makes you think he'll have mercy on me, the man his father had an illicit affair with, and you, the best stepsister he never had?"

"Well I don't see you coming up with anything", she said in a defeatist tone as she sat down on the bar stool in front of the counter.

"I already told you, there's nothing we can do", Gabriel never looked up. "As much as it hurts me to see him like this, he's going to have to get through this on his own."

"Aren't you the one always telling me to fight for love?"

"I told you that one time at my sixtieth birthday party and it was only because your boyfriend spiked the punch."

"Well it's true."

"Speaking of fighting, I've made a decision", Gabriel said cracking the eggs into the hot skillet. "I'm going to start teaching again."

Marcia's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"No, I'm out of money", he said, his voice not changing. "My retirement pension has run out and Harry's job just isn't paying him enough to support the both of us."

"In case you haven't noticed lately, you're a seventy-one year old man with back problems!"

"I had the surgery already, I'm fine", his voice remained calm. "Besides, I'll be teaching, not assembling farm equipment. There's nothing strenuous about standing in front of a group of students or grading term papers."

"Look, I have some money put away for a rainy day…"

"Keep your money; in case you haven't noticed, you have a teenage son who is eventually going to go to college."

"Are you hearing yourself right now?"

"Loud and clear."

"Just because he wants to work himself into the ground doesn't mean you have to do the same."

"For goodness' sake Marcia, I'm not bedridden or arthritic. All of my doctors have said that I'm more than healthy for my age."

Marcia threw her hands in the air in discomfiture. "I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"Believe it. My mind is made up", he said using a spatula to scoop the fried protein onto two small plates. "Breakfast is ready."

The salon owner grabbed her plate and nearly slammed it down on the table. The rain outside began to pick up momentum as Gabriel peered out of a slit in the blinds. I hope he brought his umbrella.

He walked over to the answering machine and pressed a green button, starting the automated voicemail sequence.

"Hi Mr. Murchison, this is Deborah Chaney calling from Human Resources at Los Angeles Community College. We've read over you resume and we'd love for you to come in this week for an interview…"

Marcia scoffed loudly as the woman on the message began to read out her contact information. Gabriel rolled his eyes running into the kitchen and began to scribble her words down on an old receipt. An elongated beep separated the university's message from the next.

"This message is for Harold Uzumaki. This is Dr. Chamberlain from the Oncology Center at the California Medical Complex. We've just reviewed the results of your CAT-scan and we need you to contact us as soon as possible…"

An abhorrent feeling was injected into Gabriel as the doctor read out his contact information. Marcia dropped her fork and sat up in the chair. She'd never seen the emotion drain from her father's face as it did. He seemed to be in a trance of an awful kind as he dialed the number to the oncologist's office.

He placed the phone to his ear.

A troubling silence preceded the answering of the call.

"Hi, my name is Gabriel Murchison. I'm returning Dr. Chamberlain's call regarding my husband's test results."

"…"

"Uzumaki."

"…"

"I'm his partner."

"….."

"He's not home at the moment; he won't be back until tonight."

"….."

"Not to my knowledge."

"….."

"He didn't tell me he saw a doctor."

"…"

"What did the test say?"

"…."

"But what does that mean?"

"…."

As if someone had yanked the life out of him, the phone slipped slowly from Gabriel's ear as he dropped it to the floor. Marcia shot up from her seat and picked the phone up, the nurse on the phone was calling for his name but he couldn't bring himself to speak.

He felt like he was falling at a speed that no number could measure.

The ground beneath him couldn't support his weight anymore.

The gaping hole feeding into all of his deepest fears opened up and admonished to consume him.

He felt as if someone had reached into him and pulled his very soul out from the crevices of his existence.

Marcia hung up the phone and placed both her hands on her father's shoulders as he stared into the cavernous vacuity that pulled him relentlessly. He wanted more than anything to open his mouth and repeat even the smallest abbreviation of what the woman on the phone had told him, but the bullet racing toward him rendered him aghast.

"Dad, look at me." She shook him gently. He didn't blink.

"Look at me Daddy", she pleaded, fear swelling in her voice.

He finally turned his head to face her.

"What did the doctor say?"

She could see his lips moving subtly, as if he were mustering the very strength to speak.

His lips began to quiver violently as the tears began to pour down his still expressionless face.

"He's dying."

A loud crack of thunder greeted the business men and women in the spacious marble floored lobby with no ceiling as Naruto passed through the automatic door. The precipices of each floor were visible from the ground floor, the elevator shaft running between each level. There was a large circular reference desk in front of the shaft, four security guards sat behind it munching on morsels from the vending machine. On one side there was a terminal leading to the next building over as well as a hallway leading to more conference room, and on the other side were glass doors that all lead to the street crossing that which was parallel to the front.

The rain outside raged on with an earth-shaking fury. Traffic filled the street in front of the building as horns blared loudly over the steady mixture of rain hitting the surface of the city and the thunder booming above it. Naruto wiped the water from his forehead and looked behind him to see the drenched view.

The athlete took his coat off and walked over to the elevators. A few people stopped to greet him, a few asking for autographs. He smiled at them genuinely and managed to tear himself from their adoration to make it to the meeting in time. He pressed the button on the wall, looking left and right to avoid anyone else. The doors opened and a slender woman with blonde hair and dark red lips brushed seductively past him. He sighed in annoyance and stepped into the empty elevator.

"Hold the door."

Naruto placed his hand on the metal surface for Sakura to walk in and stand next to him. She pressed the button marked twenty-seven without looking at him, causing Naruto to give her a quizzical glance as the doors closed in front of them. He quickly decided to drop his suspicions behind her current preoccupation with him and rested in the silence.

"You're late."

Naruto looked down at his watch. "I'd say I'm right on time."

"I'd say you're late."

"You said the meeting is at ten, it's only a quarter to ten."

"I also told you to meet me at my office at nine-thirty so we could discuss some things before the meeting."

"What's to discuss?"

"It doesn't matter anymore; I'm just trying to figure out why I'm the only one here with a working watch."

"My watch works just fine. And if you haven't noticed, there's a fucking thunderstorm outside."

"I've seen the way you drive in the rain, so spare me the bullshit. I highly doubt that you of all people could be deterred by a little shower."

Naruto sighed deeply. "What the hell do want me to do Sakura?"

"I'm not an idiot, Naruto. And neither are you."

"Yes, we're both smart people. What's your point?"

"You should know better than to do what you're doing."

"What exactly am I doing?"

"Look, I couldn't care less about the Kinky Tales of Naruto & Gaara; just make sure it doesn't interfere with your goddamned job."

"For you information, Gaara and I haven't had sex in almost a year." Naruto rested his head against the wall of the elevator and massaged his temples. Sakura gave him an irregular glance.

"What's with you?"

He lifted his head again and straightened his suit as the elevator door opened to reveal the twenty-seventh floor. Before them was a long hallway with many doors. The doors were all a deep redwood color and the knobs were all of fine gold and silver. Executives and white collar dwellers moved about the floor and greeted Naruto, wishing him well on his upcoming game.

Sakura smiled fictitiously as the both of them walked towards the conference room where they would wait for the ad executive to meet them. They both adeptly concealed their disagreement.

They came upon the front desk in the center of the floor and the receptionist looked up from his work, which lied atop a tabloid magazine, to greet them.

"Ms. Haruno, Mr. Uzumaki, it's a pleasure meeting you. I'm a really big fan."

Naruto smiled charmingly at him. "Thank you. That means a lot."

The desk worker stood to his feet and motioned toward the second door to the right of them. "If you two will just wait in Conference Room B, Mr. Davis will be with you just as soon as he gets out of his nine o'clock meeting."

"Thank you", Sakura said as she turned on the balls of her feet. Naruto held the door open for her, motioning for her to enter before him. There were nine chairs set out around a new redwood table. The smell of the resin was overpowering and poignant. A blinking conference phone sat in the middle of the tale, only eight glasses of water were present and one half-full bottle of scotch stood next to the phone. The blinds were open slightly, just enough for the falling rain to be seen from the interior of the room. Lighting flashed intermittently as the two of them found their seats.

Sakura turned to her client and motioned with her hand for him to start talking.

"Come on. Spill."

"Spill what?"

"Don't give me that. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

She paused briefly finding in her intuition a possible reason for his despondence.

"Look, if it's about Charlotte…"

"I don't care about her", Naruto said swatting away the idea.

She looked from left to right. "Then what is it?"

He rested his chin on his clasped fists before turning to her. "It's Gaara. I'm worried about him, Sakura."

"You're always worried about him", she said rolling her eyes.

"This time I've got a good reason to worry."

"And what reason would that be?"

"When we were walking up the stairs last night, right before you called, I turn around and he's on the ground. I ask him what's wrong, he says he tripped."

Sakura gave him a blank stare. "So you're worried because he's clumsy."

"And then when we make it to my bedroom-"

"Please give me the G-Rated version, before you continue."

"Trust me, there was nothing X-rated about last night, unfortunately", he said making his manager chuckle. "So he lies across the bed, and I'm kissing him, right? I look up and he's asleep."

Sakura paused with a confused expression on her face. "So…you're worried because he fell asleep on you."

"Do you have any idea how tired someone has to be to fall over?"

"Pretty fucking tired, I would imagine."

"That's what I'm saying."

"Dancing in some gay club can't be all that tiring."

"It is when you dance at night, wait tables in the morning, work for a caterer in the afternoon and train full time at the fucking Manhattan Conservatory for fucking Ballet."

Sakura's eyebrows raised in shock. "Holy shit", she brushing her bangs back. "When do you sleep with a schedule like that?"

"You don't."

She sighed, looking at Naruto sullen countenance and a thought came to her mind.

"I hope you're not thinking of…"

Naruto scoffed sardonically. "Helping him? Don't say it too loud, he might hear you", he said sarcastically, taking a drink of water. "I've begged him, pleaded with him to let me help him. I told him I could solve everything for him. He won't take one red cent from me."

Sakura didn't say anything out loud, yet her mind was reeling from his words. Her perception of the situation began to repudiate what Naruto was telling her about someone she thought she'd configured already. Her initial thought of him was that his love was unrecompensed, until the darkness of the world's opinion clouded that intuition.

"He's just so goddamned stubborn", Naruto said looking down at his tightly clasped fists with distemper and desperation in his blue eyes. "Can't he see he's working himself to death?"

"It's called pride, Naruto", Sakura said pouring him more water. "And that may seem like nothing to you and me, but for him, that's everything."

"No one should have to live like that, Sakura. He might as well not be living at all."

"But if he wants to do it this way, what choice do you have?"

"I have plenty", Naruto said, his voice bolstering. "I'm not going to sit on my ass while he works himself into the ground!"

"Lower your voice!" Sakura said in a hushed tone as she looked behind him to see a few people looking into the room. She smiled and waved them off before turning her angry expression at him.

He bit down on his lower lip in an attempt to fight the urge to weep. "I've already lost my…" He struggled to continue. "I've already lost someone this year. I can't lose Gaara too."

"Will you stop talking like he has a terminal disease? All he needs is a little rest."

Naruto chuckled dryly. "That's just it. He won't. I had to beg him to stay home and rest today."

Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "Wait, come again?"

"I asked him to stay home today. I believe that would be conclusive to this conversation. What's the problem?" Naruto said becoming irritated by his agent's spiel.

The meeting in the next conference room adjourned and Sakura stood to her feet. "For your sake and for your father's blood pressure, I hope you dropped Sleeping Beauty off at his own apartment."

Naruto thought promptly about revealing his campaign to get Gaara to move in and decided against it. "There wasn't time", he settled with. "Besides, what's my dad got to do with anything?"

"Your dad's meetings got moved to earlier this morning. He was going to stay at his hotel but he decided to spend the day with you since you were off."

"So…" He motioned with his hand for her to continue.

"Well, he wanted to see your new loft and surprise you when you got back, so I gave him my spare key."

Naruto's eyes nearly combusted in their sockets. He rose to his feet. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Marvin Davis, the advertising agent who was preparing to step into the office, stared blankly at the quarreling pair before making his way back out the door. "I'm going to go make some copies of the proposal before I bring in my associates; we'll give you two some time."

An embarrassed Sakura simply nodded graciously as the executive closed the door behind him. She turned her angry gaze over to Naruto who began to pace around the conference room.

"I hope you know these little outbursts of yours are shitting on all of my hard work I put in to land you this account!"

"Don't you dare turn this around on me. Because of you, my dad is going to walk into my loft and see Gaara lying naked in my sofa!"

"How the fuck is that my problem?!"

"You're the one who gave him the fucking key!"

"You're the one who decided to leave a naked stripper in your house!"

Naruto could hear the other associates coming down the hallway and decided to lower his voice. "Forgive me for not planning on you giving out the key to my loft without my permission. What I do in my personal life is not under your jurisdiction. And unlike you or my father, that naked stripper is the only person I actually invited to my house!"

"I already told you, I don't give a damn about your personal life until it starts to affect your career, which is my fucking jurisdiction, unless you want to find another agent to put up with your bullshit", Sakura seethed as she reached into her briefcase and pulled out a wrinkled tabloid magazine and slammed it onto the table.

"Look at this, 'NFL all-star caught prowling the streets of Brooklyn for gay strippers'", she read the headline aloud.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto pointed to the title of the magazine. "This is the same rag that almost got shut down after they said the president was secretly a transgendered woman from Indonesia."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Only an idiot would believe this."

"Naruto, the headline is true."

"I was not prowling the streets. I picked Gaara up from work and took him out to eat. That's it."

"The point is that you're not being careful."

"Why the fuck am I the one who has to be so careful all of the sudden?" Naruto said indignantly. "No one cared when I used to pick Charlotte up from work; she worked right next door to a strip club. You can't turn on the news without hearing about some linebacker getting busted for snorting coke or kicking the shit out of his wife, and you mean to tell me they get off just because they're straight? That's bullshit!"

"Yes, it's bullshit. But that's the world we live in. And this world is simply not ready for a gay football player."

Naruto said nothing in return as Marvin and the other associates from the firm entered the conference room. He rose to feet and shook all of their hands graciously, fighting to ease the sting of what his agent just said to him. It was a sting more unaccustomed to him than failure, the feeling of exclusion. He felt the hateful wrath of the world who praised him in the same breath.

An intern set up a poster board at the end of the conference table. Marvin walked to the front of the room as he prepared to make his pitch. Naruto's eyes were on the events of the room but his mind dwelled elsewhere. Marvin's mouth started to move, everyone on in the room was listening to him, but to the athlete, not a single word could be heard.

I've got to find a way to call Gaara, at least to tell him to put some clothes on. I never thought I'd say that.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing.

Maybe he needs to see Gaara there, sleeping. I read somewhere that seeing someone you dislike asleep releases some chemical in your brain helps you identify with them. Personally, I think it's a croc of shit, but I'm desperate right about now.

"We're thinking of using you to change the face of athletic wear."

No, I'm going to have to buckle down and tell my father what's what. I love Gaara.

He might be a little averse to the idea at first but he'll come around eventually.

"Billboards in Time Square, on every bus and magazine cover with none other than you showing the world what they all aspire to be."

Who am I kidding? Halley's Comet would come around sooner than my father.

Maybe, after Gaara gets dressed, they'll have a deeply moving conversation and learn to like each other.

"So, what do you think?"

I needn't worry about my dad so much when there's still Gaara to think about. He's going to kick my ass for letting my father walk in on him naked. For once, I wish he hadn't listened to me.

Shit, all I wanted was for him to have a day for himself. And then Sakura had to go and give my dad the fucking key to my apartment. I'll bet she did it on purpose.

"Mr. Uzumaki?" Marvin called out to him after a short period of unresponsiveness. Sakura looked over to him and kicked his leg from underneath the table, snatching him from his inner thoughts.

"I think it's great. Let's do it", he blurted out.

His associates looked at one another in surprise, they'd never managed to convince someone to pose in jock-straps and have the proofs all over New York before. Marvin's surprised look morphed slowly into a sly smile. He turned to the other executives in the room.

"Mike, I'll need you to get in touch with Giovanni so we can set up a photo shoot. Lisa, I'll need you and Jeremy to head over to accounting, I'll meet you there in a moment. Everyone else, I'm pretty sure you all have something to do for the Bonoducci account."

They all dispersed throughout the floor and the door closed behind the last person.

Marvin came over to where Sakura and Naruto were still sitting and sat down half-way onto the round table. "So, Mr. Uzumaki…"

"Please, call me Naruto", the athlete conceded amicably, feeling guilty for ignoring the bulk of his pitch.

"Are you ready for the women?"

Naruto lifted his eyebrow. "Women?"

"You can cut the shit with me, Naruto. You already have them practically throwing themselves at you as it is. But after this campaign, you might need to beef up your security detail."

Naruto laughed heartily, masking the disgust welling at the pit of his stomach. "Yeah, I guess I will."

Sakura looked over to him as the consternation in his eyes read hauntingly clear to hers.

"I think I want to serve the vegan hors d' oeuvres before Tom and I make our entrance."

Janice Rankin's voice echoed through the enormity of the governor's mansion as she led her event planner through her large abode. Kushina, still not quite used to the size of the place, fought the urge to stare gapingly at her friend's gigantic dwelling. She typed the woman's words down on her tablet, the sound of their heels bouncing off the marble walls and floors. The taller woman struggled to keep up with the seemingly never ending drawl of request for the upcoming event springing from the mouth of the governor's wife.

Thomas David Rankin was the humble product of a rural pastor and local school teacher from Anaheim. Many of his more liberal opponents cited his religious upbringing as a severe liability in the voter markets. At the dawn of Rankin's teen years, his father's church and legal ordainment were confiscated when he was accused of aiding and abetting the murder of two students believed to be homosexuals. Although his father never spent any time in prison, the incident both reconstructed the family's way of life and filled his son with a fiery passion to defend the helpless.

Rankin went on to become a diligent student and a devoted son, his admiration and respect for his father growing and maturing as he did. He attended UCLA majoring in law and graduated at the top of his class. It was during his senior year at a pep rally that he first laid eyes on Janice Rose Gutenberg.

The daughter of German immigrants, she majored in education, seeking to be a part of the current movement to restore the state's failing school system. Her deep green eyes, long blonde hair and petite figure caught his eye but her never-ending capacity to counterbalance his brutish nature captured his love and affection. They were wed scarcely a year after the date of their graduation.

Their cardinal years were filled with marital turmoil, due mostly to the fact that Janice's teaching endeavors were rocketing her into lucrative and dynamic positons within her field, while Rankin's career in law fell flat. His practice was so stagnant in the first years, in fact, that only on momentous occasions could his income be used to support the both of them.

One day, during the period of time when he was considering the imminent failure of his life's mission, a young business man came to him in need of an attorney to represent his budding energy company. His name was Minato Uzumaki. He harbored many inhibitions about defending corporations, even small ones, but eventually put them aside in order to provide for his family, which grew when his wife informed him only a month later that she was with child.

Thus began a powerful partnership that lead to both the establishment of Rankin's practice as a staple in LA, and the expansion of Minato's modest energy company into an international conglomerate.

As the years passed, Rankin began to grow weary of standing before the Bar and began to contemplate leaving his practice into more willing hands and searching for a venture that his talents could better serve. Traveling back to his original intent to defend the defenseless, he arrived at the decision to venture into the, then, cut-throat world of state politics.

Despite his wife's antipathy toward politicians, she supportively went along with her husband's resolution under the condition that he waited until their second child graduated from high school.

His large popularity among the corporations he had an extensive history of defending left the growing middle class in the state feeling ostracized. However, it was not their votes that would ultimately decide the outcome of the election, which was the harsh revelation to his constituency when he won by a narrow margin.

The mansion that came with the duty of governing the state was built only a few years prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, and had been reconstructed and renovated on several occasions since then. Although, most architectural critics in the state claimed the latest version of the commonwealth's residency was by the most laudable. The outside was painted an unblemished white and the brick glossed over, allowing it to reflect the sun's rays back toward Los Angeles.

The interior was perhaps the most breathtaking, the mere size of it difficult for seers to comprehend.

Over the course of Rankin and Minato's partnership and friendship, a most peculiar friendship had already been thriving between their wives who had known one another since college.

Their differences were few and far between; however, their political beliefs were polar opposites, Kushina proudly touting her liberalism and Janice valiantly trumpeting her conservatism. The two often found it best to avoid conversations that highlighted this difference, fearing that it would damage the relationship that both of them enjoyed.

Kushina looked down at her tablet and scrolled through the list of priorities of the night to come. "It looks like everything is set for next Saturday. The caterer and the waitstaff are all ready, all of the cutlery and the supplies should be here a day early, and the guest lists have been compiled and all we need is a few more RSVPs."

Janice wrapped her arms around Kushina and kissed her on both cheeks, surprising her slightly. She laughed softly. "What was all of that for?"

"You're a miracle worker", she said with exuberance as the both of them walked up the stairs to one of the sitting rooms. "There's no way any other event planner would have been willing to put together an even like this on such short notice."

"It's the least I could do. You practically gave me my entire client list", Kushina said thankfully as the two women reached the room. There were two antique Victorian chairs, a chaise lounge and a small table with a silver tray.

Janice pressed the intercom button on the wall. "Sam, could you bring up some tea and biscuits?"

"Right away, madam."

Janice sat down with a loud sigh. "All this party planning is wearing me out. I just don't know how you do this for a living."

"I don't know how either," Kushina said. "I suppose it's because I'm obsessed with making something out of nothing."

"Personally, I don't have the patience to deal with people throwing ten million demands at me for a party, and then expecting it done in a snap."

"There's irony in here somewhere, I just know it", Kushina said sarcastically.

Janice waived her hypocrisy off. "This is different. I'm a friend", she said smiling.

"Besides, event planning is the only thing keeping me from the terrible clutches of ENS."

"Is that some sort of disease?"

"Empty nest syndrome."

"I didn't think that applied to mother's like you."

"Why wouldn't it?"

Janice looked at her confidant incredulously. "Hello, your son is a fucking star. Why be depressed just because he's out of the house when he's one of the most famous athletes in the world?"

"I guess you're right."

"But there is something you should be worrying about."

"And what would that be?" Kushina raised an eyebrow knowing that trouble was brewing.

"The greedy bloodsuckers out there after my godson's money, that's what."

Kushina shook her head in dismay. "We're still recovering from the last one."

The butler came in carrying two trays, biscuits on the right, tea on the left, and he placed them on the table between the two women. He bowed slightly, receiving a small nod from his employer before making his exit out of the room. Janice picked up her cup and poured in a heaping helping of honey.

"What a wretched woman that Charlotte was, lying to Naruto all that time. I'll bet it just broke his heart."

"He was absolutely devastated", Kushina said sighing. "He just hasn't been quite the same since then."

"How so?"

"He never comes to visit, his agent says he's always distracted, he's just been signed to the Giants and he hasn't shown even the slightest sign of happiness, he doesn't call...I can understand if he doesn't call me, but he and his father used to talk all the time. Now, Minato says he won't even answer his phone anymore."

"The poor thing", Janice said in a tender voice. "Have either of you been to New York to visit him?"

"Minato's there now on business. He was hoping to spend some time with him, maybe see if there's any way left to get through to him."

Janice paused for a moment. "Maybe he's just lonely."

"He has his teammates…"

"What I meant was, maybe he just needs to be around some women. You know, just to show him that there are other fish in the sea."

A heaviness began to press onto Kushina's mind as she thought desperately of a way to save the conversation before it went left.

"I don't think that's it."

"Why not? He's young, handsome, and successful, he's a perfect gentleman. In fact, I know plenty of nice girls who would love to meet him," she said with an inviting air.

"….."

"And then the nerve of those silly tabloids, accusing him of cruising the queer scene and picking up go-go boys", she said disdainfully.

Kushina simply said nothing.

"But then again, according to those idiotic gossip rags everyone's a fag now", Janice sipped her tea.

"He's seeing someone", Kushina blurted out. Janice gave her a surprised look over the brim of her cup. She quickly began to regret her words as she knew, much like a dog with a bone, her friend would never let the topic go without tiringly extensive conversation.

Janice's shocked expression changed into one of exuberance. "Why didn't you say that in the first place? That's great!"

"Because it was supposed to be a secret", she said with a polite tone externally. Inside she was slapping herself. "He made me promise not to tell anyone."

"Why would he do that?"

"You know how Naruto is", Kushina said. "He wants to be sure of things before he goes around telling everyone."

"Well, I suppose that's the socially responsible thing to do," Janice said mocking his uprightness. She then looked back at Kushina and motioned with her had for her to continue.

"So…who is she? What does she look like? Who are her parents? What's she doing for a living? Come on, I want details."

Kushina sipped her tea nervously. She doesn't have to know the truth just yet; I don't think she's ready for it just yet. I'll just have to humor her for the time being. I can't lie to her though; after all we've been through together. I know, I'll just play dumb.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Naruto won't tell me a word more than that he's seeing someone special."

Janice's goading smile faded as she shrugged the idea off entirely. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait for that mystery to unfold itself", she said taking another sip.

"Guess so", Kushina internally sighed in relief.

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Janice spoke again.

"By the way, I've got another question for you…"

"Ask away."

"Do you remember about a year ago when the news kept running that story about the mysterious red blur?"

"Red blur?"

"Yeah, there were all of these photos circulating through all of the major news shows with some redheaded person glued to Naruto."

Kushina bit her tongue, stuttering at first. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Maybe that's the mystery woman…"

"Who knows?" Kushina wiped the thin veneer of perspiration from her forehead. Janice gave her a concerned look.

"Hey, I have an idea!"

"What?"

"Why don't I invite Naruto and his girlfriend to our party?"

"Maybe because he lives on the other side of the country and it would be a little silly to ask him to come home for a dinner party full of people he doesn't know."

"But this is a perfect way for us to reveal the mystery woman. And don't you remember? He's playing in LA anyway. He could come over right after the game and bring his new girlfriend too."

Kushina began to perspire slightly. "What if he doesn't want us to meet her?"

"Of course he does. He just needs a little reassurance that we'll like her. You know how funny men can be when they're in love."

"I don't know, Jan…"

"Look, I'll extend the invitation. If he wants to come, he's welcome."

An unnerving constellation appeared in Kushina's mind of the direction the events of the night would take should Naruto make an appearance with the love interest Janice was so obsessed with meeting. She thought of the faces of all of Rankin's conservative friends as they saw Naruto waltzing around the ballroom floor with the redheaded dancer in his arms. Suddenly a smile graced her lips and a small laugh escaped her private thoughts. They'd shit. They'd literally shit their pants.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Kushina wiped her forehead.

"Honey, are you hot? Let me go turn the thermostat down a few notches", she said exiting the room for a brief moment. Kushina took out a napkin from her purse and wiped any smudged mascara from her eye as she heard the air conditioning turn on around the entire house. Janice came back in with the same concerned look.

"I hope you're not coming down with anything", she said taking a bite out of one of the powdered biscuits.

"It's these goddamned motherfucking hot flashes", she said out of frustration. "I knew they were coming, I'm not ashamed of my age. But no one told me it would feel like you're being baked into a chicken."

"Mine weren't that bad."

Kushina put the damp cloth back in her purse. "Menopause is just one more thing that we women have to deal with that men don't have a clue about."

"I suppose they have dilemmas to deal with as well."

"Like what? 'Gee, I wonder where my next piece of pussy is coming from today.' Or 'I can't decide on whether or not to scratch with my left hand or my right.'"

"Don't tell me you're turning back into the cunty feminist you were in college", Janice said smirking.

Kushina smiled back. "And what if I am?"

"I just might have to kill you."

"With another debate on abortion? I'd like to see you try", Kushina said as the two danced playfully around the fiery pit of their dissidence. "I'll have you know, I'm not the shitty debater I was back then."

"I'd hope so", Janice laughed tauntingly. "The tree outside the chemistry building was more convincing."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Yeah you were. But it's ok, I have no desire to destroy your pansy liberal values today", Janice said confidently sipping her tea. Kushina rolled her eyes, smiling at how little she had changed over the years. The sound of shoes against the wooden floors approached from around the corner and Janice's open and vibrant demeanor changed slightly, a change that Kushina had noticed ever since the day she wed the man who appeared in the doorway with a steaming mug in his hairy hand.

He winked at Janice and turned his gaze to Kushina, a woman more volatile to him than she was to his wife. "Well if it isn't our little party planner."

"Party planners work with toddlers and birthday cakes. I coordinate events for millionaires", she said cheekily. "Many of whom will be at your event."

Rankin chuckled. "I'm sure they will. You know, it does my heart good to see you out of the house."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Call me old-fashioned, but I always told Minato he needed to keep you on a shorter leash."

Before Janice could interrupt their escalating banter, Kushina boldly spoke up. "And I was just telling your lovely wife how easy it is to hide cyanide in hot beverages…like coffee", she said smiling, looking down at the mug in his hand.

"I'd like to think my wife hasn't been corrupted enough to stoop to poison just yet."

"You needn't be concerned with the corruption of your wife. In case you haven't noticed, she's an intelligent adult with actual autonomy over her own brain. Or does that disrupt your theory that all women have the mental capacities of patio furniture."

Rankin laughed. "What feminist croc-of-shit pamphlet did you get that one from?"

"I got it from the female demographic that was smart enough not to vote for you."

"I figured those immoral bra-burning witches had a few minions left."

"The only minion in this room is you, considering the fact that your financial backers have more say in your decisions than the brainless morons who were dumb enough to vote for you."

"My financial backers know a good candidate when they see one."

Kushina scoffed. "Spare me; they know a good slave when they see one. And I'll have you know, my mother was a so-called 'bra-burner' and she had more morality in her left pinky than all of those homophobic, sexist, racist, fascist hate-tours you call campaigns."

"It's called having principles, my fair lady." Rankin folded his arms across his chest. "Present company excluded, most people have them. And I can't be held responsible if an insignificant population of man-hating bitches and their queer friends don't like it."

"Stop it!"

Janice looked from her husband to her best friend with frustration in her eyes. She was standing in between the two of them as if the opposing forces were about to physically harm one another.

"Can't you two be in the same room for five minutes without having a fucking swordfight", she said looking from her husband to Kushina. "You're adults for goodness sake."

"I can't help it that your pet hog here decided to interrupt our conversation", Kushina said motioning with her head to Rankin, who took a step closer.

"A conversation you were having in my house…"

"Your house?" Kushina laughed out loud. "I hate to burst your little self-righteous bubble, 'Governor Rankin', but the revenue used to build and operate this house is provided by the taxpayers of the state of California, which not only prevents you from owning it, but also makes it public property. So since I'm both a tax payer and a resident of this state, I believe that it is my civic right to sit on this public sofa and have a public conversation with my friend", Kushina said smirking. Rankin's face began to turn red he used his smile to conceal his freshly lacerated ego.

He turned and kissed Janet in front of Kushina, keeping his eyes on her. Kushina scowled at him from only few feet away. She desired to strike him, but her inhibitions proved to be stronger than her irrational urges to express her thoughts of the man.

Rankin turned around and made his exit as his wife's cheeks were still red from his deep kiss. She straightened her clothes and the both of them sat back down. Janet sighed deeply looking over at Kushina, who seemed to be indifferent about the recent spectacle.

"I'll never understand why you two can never get along."

"I can help you out with that one."

"Please do."

"You're husband gets his rocks off by pushing people's buttons, namely mine. He knows I'm the biggest feminist since Jane Austen and what does he do? He walks in and starts making sexist cracks."

"That's just Tom's sense of humor; you know how much of a joker he is."

"Forgive me if I don't find his brand of comedy very amusing."

"Minato and I get along just fine."

"That's because you and Minato are exactly alike. Rankin and I are polar opposites."

"I guess that makes you the oddball", Janice said grinning.

"I suppose so."

Der Friedlicher Schlaf

The clock on the wall struck eleven-thirty.

His long black woven legwarmers that ran up to the top of his thigh were covered by the mesmerizingly scented dark blue blanket. It smelled like the cologne that always seemed to take him in like a first breath. The smell comforted him; it guided him to sleep and guarded him. He felt safer on that sofa, underneath the aromatic blanket, than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Under the blanket he felt loved, wanted, desirable, protected, beautiful, free.

His left hand was near his face and his head rested on the forearm of his right. His muscular bare chest and half-nude body reflected the vibrant colors of the midday sky as the storm passed. The light shining through the large glass windows in front of him didn't wake him. His form gently rose and fell as he breathed in the quiet air of the entire loft.

The linear convalescing scar on his thigh where Charlotte's bullet maimed him shined in the light of the burgeoning sunlight.

He shifted slightly as the latch on the other side of the large metal door began to turn over, as if someone were trying to unlock the complicated door for the first time. The loud clanking of the contraption of a door did not wake him.

His phone was ringing in Naruto's bedroom; it's buzzing also failed to wake him from his comatose-like slumber. A tall man in a suit and a long thin coat finally opened the door, the wooden soles of his large shoes colliding loudly with the oak floors. He closed the door behind him with an emphatic clank.

His brief case and umbrella dropped to the floor near the entrance as he stood for a moment to ingest the grandeur of the garnished dwelling. The noise from the streets below could faintly be heard underneath the sound of the rhythmic ticking of the clock mounted on the wall above him.

"Anyone home?" He called out with a loud enough voice.

Gaara did not stir.

The back of the sofa concealed him as Minato walked into the kitchen. He looked down at the dishes in the sink, two plates, two bowls and two cups. There was an unfamiliar presence in the loft that troubled him. It was neither that of a woman nor of a man that he'd met with frequently enough to recognize. He brushed the matter off and continued his self-guided tour into the bedroom.

The suspicion of plurality in the loft increased in strength as he saw the unknown messenger bag and cell phone lying on the nightstand to the left of the bed. The phone buzzed on the nightstand loudly, prompting the older man to look at who was calling. Red.

Hanging out of the bag was an unusual garment; from where he was standing, it appeared to be a body suit with several holes in it. He reached into the bag and pulled it out, his face contorting in bewildered disdain. He tossed it onto the bed.

The sheets were tousled, the closet door open and the fog on the in the restroom mirror still fading. He peered into the bathroom and saw a second toothbrush in the glass cup. He smiled at the thought of Naruto moving on with his life and began to create in his mind the picture of the woman who was responsible for the binary condition of his loft.

Suddenly he began to pick up the faint sound of slow and rhythmic breath coming from the living room, the only room he hadn't been in. He turned around and walked towards the large glass windows that opened the loft to the view of Manhattan's skyline. He found himself struggling to control his rage.

"What the fuck?!" He exclaimed; his words didn't wake the sleeping man.

The redheaded dancer rested peacefully on the sofa, the dark blue blanket failing to cover his nude body as the black from his legwarmers peered up at the infuriated man towering above him.

Minato's mind began to accelerate as his phone rang in his pocket. He was pulled from his angry glare and answered. Kushina.

"What."

She sighed deeply in reaction to his gruff answer. "What's wrong now?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that some gay hooker is lying naked on my son's couch."

"Hooker?" She paused for moment. "Ok, calm down. Where is Naruto?"

"He's still in his meeting."

"You broke into his loft?"

"I did not break in", he said indignantly. "Sakura gave me her spare key. And don't you dare turn this around on me."

"Why didn't you wait until he got out of his meeting, you know, like a normal person would?"

"My meetings got moved the thi-… You know what; I'm not the one who needs to explain myself here."

"Neither is he", Kushina rebutted nonchalantly. "Clearly Naruto wanted him to be there, why else would he be there…naked."

"Did it ever occur to you that he was the one who broke in?"

"Right, I can see the headlines now. 'Intruder breaks in, steals nothing, and falls asleep naked on the sofa.'"

"I'm not laughing, Kushina."

"Well, I am", she said. "If you sink any further into denial you're going to need an oxygen tank."

"I'm not in denial. I'm simply trying to rectify the situation so I can have a nice evening with my son before I leave."

"Wow", she said with laughter in her voice. "I didn't think it was possible but you're actually in denial about being in denial."

"Why are you making a joke out of this? Don't you even care that your son is being manipulated by some…some trick?"

"No. I don't care. And do you want to know why I don't care?"

"Because you're a liberal pacifist who needs to be committed."

"I don't care because he's not being manipulated. He twenty-seven fucking years old Minato, I think by now he has more than enough autonomy over his life to make smart decisions. Besides, if anyone has the capacity to be manipulated in this situation, it's Gaara."

"I can't believe you're taking his side over your own son!"

"I'm more on Naruto's side than you are. The only person whose side you're on is your own."

"I'm not going to have this discussion with you again. I'm putting an end to this freak show right now!"

"Fine, yell, curse at him, and tell him to get out while you're at it. Just know that by sticking your elongated nose into Naruto's affairs all you're doing is screwing things up for the both of us."

"I'm his father!"

"Be quiet, or you'll wake him."

"He should think himself lucky that I don't strangle him in his sleep."

"That would defeat the purpose of you breaking in."

"I did not break in!"

"Do you remember what your doctor told you?"

"He's a fucking quack."

"He told you to mind your stress or you'll keep having chest pains."

"I don't need to mind my stress. I need to wake this hustler up and tell him to pack his shit and leave my son the hell alone."

"You have no right to do that."

"I have every right!"

Kushina sighed in exasperation on the other end.

Gaara maintained his repose.

"You know, I would think, after all of the meetings you sit through, you'd be civilized enough to solve you're disputes diplomatically."

"The men I conference with are wearing clothes."

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't prepared to wake up to you, of all people. You're not even supposed to be there."

"I don't give a shit what you say. You've lost your mind if you think I'm going to have a heart-to-heart with some naked stripper who's probably looting my son's home."

"He has a name, you know."

"I already know Greg's name."

"Gaara."

"Whatever!" Minato said taking a seat in the wingback chair adjacent to Gaara's sleeping form.

Kushina released a loud scream of vexation "Fine! Do whatever you want; I don't have time to convince you to act like an adult. Just be prepared to lose your son again. Because that's just what will happen if you don't butt out!"

Minato stared off into space as Kushina hung up.

He looked over at Gaara as he continued to sleep.

He stared at his red hair as if he were trying to freeze him in his memory, as if he could lock him away in his mind and change him into someone that would make the situation easier to accept. He began to think about what he read in the case file from Charlotte.

Minato noticed the scar on Gaara's thigh and his assumptions about him to be crystallized. Before the stark taste of empathy could reach his senses, the red haired man inhaled sharply and began to open his eyes. He turned his head slowly to see the older version of Naruto glaring at him, his piercing blue eyes sending a jolt of terror through his entire body. He convulsed from his laying position and quickly sashed the blanket around himself.

"Mr. Uzumaki…", he struggled to find the words to say as he composed himself underneath Minato's glacial gaze. He said nothing in return, he only stared at him. His agonizingly keen beholding of the younger man all but split him in half.

Minato bit down on the inside of his cheek before finally breaking his silence.

"Put your clothes on."

Coupled with his remote command, came the chilling and uncanny resemblance to the voice of his own father. Suddenly the sofa was stripped of its imperviousness and became a thorny reminder of the strong hand speeding towards his face that ferociously ensnared his youth.

He quickly got up and scurried to the bedroom. Minato could hear him rummaging around the room for his things as he rose to his feet. He came to the doorway of the bedroom just in time for Gaara to exit.

The time he spent searching for the right words to dispel the young obstruction was brief, for his repugnance for the events that were transpiring was abundant.

The shorter of the two, fully clothed rushing out of the bedroom, nearly bumped into a disgruntled Minato who was waiting by the door. Gaara's things were put together neatly in the corner of the bedroom.

Minato sighed. "It's Gordon, right?"

"Gaara", he said politely. "…And I'm here because-"

"Don't worry about it", he said waiving his hand. "It doesn't matter anymore."

A hot and sharp tinge of embarrassment made a fist around Gaara's gut as his explanation was swatted away like a childish excuse. He held his tongue from expressing his fury over the older man's overtly condescending tone. He knew saying what he felt in that moment would do more harm than good.

"Needless to say, I was more than a little disquieted to see someone of your…caliber disrobed in my son's loft."

The blunt suggestion was not unforeseen to Gaara as he began to prepare himself for the worst. "I gathered that much."

"Did you?" He smirked superciliously.

"For a man of so few words, you have incomparable talent for informing people that you don't particularly care for them. You made that painfully clear at our first meeting."

"I do hope you'll forgive me if my words were harsh."

"It's water under the bridge", Gaara said tactfully, knowing where the conversation was going.

"I'm glad". Minato placed his hands in the pockets of his coat. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to make you a proposition. You give me something, and I'll give you something of equal value."

"That sounds fair", Gaara said, not allowing himself to forget what rested beneath his conciliatory words. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm sure by now you've discovered what an important man Naruto is."

"Unfortunately not, I guess you could say it hasn't occurred to me just yet", he said sarcastically.

"Well, no worries. I'll fill you in."

"I'm listening."

"The first thing you should know about pertinent individuals like Naruto and myself is that with importance comes responsibility."

"I can see how that correlation would work."

"Good, then you probably already know what will happen should the public find out that Naruto has been interacting with someone like you."

"I beg your pardon?"

Minato chuckled. "Let's not be naïve."

"Please expound on the phrase 'someone like you'."

The taller man lifted his eyebrow before extending his right hand.

"Well, let's see. On one hand there's Naruto. He's the son of the owner of one of the largest energy conglomerates in the world. In his own rite he's one of the highest paid players in the history of the league. His relatives and close friends include senators, judges, presidents, governors, singers, actors, best-selling authors, world leaders, he's been endorsed by more companies than any other quarterback, he's been acclaimed as one of the best athletes of his generation, he has two Super Bowl rings, and he's projected to win a third."

As if a fist punched him squarely in his chest, Gaara was rendered speechless after having heard all of the older man's accolades, many of which even he was unaware of. The life felt like it was spilling out of him once again as Minato counted the blue lines that crossed them. He couldn't find any words worth using to interrupt him before what he knew was coming next.

Beurteilen

"And then we have you." He extended his left hand. "You are the son of a murdering hairstylist and a drunken abusive liquor store owner. Your resume includes nothing more that strip joints, gay bars, and drug infested dance clubs. After struggling to forge a menial career in Los Angeles, you moved to New York only to end up another insignificant hopeful in the world of ballet. Your family, or what's left of it, includes a host of sex offenders, drunks, felons, drug addicts and the mentally-disabled. Not a single person knows who you are or where you came from."

Minato laughed softly to himself. "When you think about it, it's almost as if you don't even exist."

A confounding swelling of resentment and loathing formed in the center of his throat. He didn't care that someone was telling him about the infractions that separated him from Naruto. His bitterness and contempt pointed not at Minato, but at himself. He hated his family for their imperfections, he detested his aunt for being bipolar, he despised his mother for killing his father, he loathed his father for drinking and blackening her eyes in the midst of the hot nights. He scorned himself for allowing Minato the enshrined crown of being right. All that his slaughtered dignity would allow him was to stare off into space, helpless and dejected.

"So, here's my proposal", he took out his check book and from the inside of his coat. "I'm willing to be more than generous."

Gaara saw him beginning to fill out the check and turned his gaze up to Minato's now complacent eyes. Suddenly they weren't as daunting as before. He clenched his teeth together tightly.

"All you have to do is name your price", he said looking back at Gaara. He was slightly taken back by his pointed demeanor, yet continued. "And in return you are to do me the service of severing any and all ties you have to my family, most specifically, my son."

Gaara menaced harrowingly at Minato before composing himself momentarily. He took his bag off of his shoulder and placed it on the floor, garnering suspicion from the older man.

"So, what do you say?"

Gaara shifted his jaw before answering. "Write it out for two million."

Minato gave him an impressed look. He grinned in amusement as he began to scribble the numbers on the face of the check. Gaara watched him closely as he pulled a slender object off of the table next to them. He held it tightly behind his back as Minato signed his name on the bottom line of the slip.

"I've got to admit it, Gerry. You drive a hard-ass bargain", he said chuckling. "You should consider a career in business."

He tore the slip of paper off of the book and handed it to Gaara. Gaara took the check from him and examined it for a moment. He stared down at the tinted rectangular sheet of paper for what seemed like an eternity. It was more money than he'd ever seen before. It was enough to pay for everything he and his family could ever want.

"What? You've never seen a check before?"

Gaara said nothing in return; he only continued to look down at the check. He could almost imagine the face of his mother if she found out how much money was promised by the single sheet of paper. If would be enough for her to retire on. She would have everything she ever dreamed of, and all he had to do was turn around and walk away. He'd never have to work a second job every again. He'd never have to worry about eviction ever again. He'd never had to beg a club owner to dance for him. He'd never have to wait on another drunken table. He'd never have to struggle ever again. He didn't have to say a word, all he had to do was turn around and never come.

He'd never have to be the red blur anymore. He'd never have to look behind him while walking home. Never again would he have to sleep in bed with a knife under his pillow, dreading the imminent possibility that someone might break in and harm him for being less that his lover. The scar on his thigh begged him to take the money and run away. The voices in his head begged him to take the money and run. They cried out to him that the abnegation was worth it, more than worth it. They screamed violently at him, now commanding him to take the money. Loudly, they screamed.

Gaara swallowed the lump in his throat.

"There's something I want you to know, Mr. Uzumaki", he said gravely. He switched around the check his hand. "Before I leave."

Minato sighed deeply. "What?"

"I lied earlier."

"Oh?" He said in a patronizing tone. "What about?"

"About not knowing how important he is."

The conglomerate smiled. "Well, I guess we all have our faults", he said as looked down at his wrist to look at the time. He walked over to the bar in between the kitchen and the living room and opened the cabinet. Gaara's position remained the same, his eyes staying fixated on the check. Minato pulled out a glass and a bottle of scotch.

"Feel free to let yourself out." He tossed back a drink, and as he prepared to pour himself another, his presumptuous countenance changed abruptly when he saw the redheaded renegade holding a flame just beneath the surface of the check he had just written.

Minato's panicking expression failed to stop him. "I've never told anyone this before, but I knew Naruto was an important man before I even knew he was famous."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Minato walked slowly over to him.

"It was the way he made me feel", he said, his calm voice not changing. "It's almost difficult to describe it." He held the flame at such a distance from the piece of paper that it did not catch the flickering flame. Gaara's eyes moved quietly over to Minato who was standing in the walkway with an angry expression on his face.

"Is this some sort of ploy to get more money out of me, because if it is it's not going to work!"

His calmness reproduced an inverse effect on the corporation owner and he continued to speak in a chillingly collected tone.

"You said it yourself. I'm a nobody", he conceded. "For a long time, I felt like a nobody. I come from a family of nobodies, in a town of nobodies that nobody has ever heard of."

The elevator shaft began to pull someone up from the ground floor of the parking garage.

"But when I met Naruto, everything changed", he said as his face continued to be outlined by the tears that he'd been denying permission to fall. "For the first time…I felt like somebody."

Minato took his checkbook back out. "Fine! I'll give you more money, is that what you want? How much more? Another million? Two."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Gaara's voice changed abruptly, he scowled sourly through his wet face. "You still don't get it."

He lit the transparent bill of sale, a thin black line separating the half that was viable and the half that had perished in the flame.

"I never wanted anything from him", he said lowly, the flame continued to eat away at the small portion left of the check.

Minato's heart began to race as the flame drew nearer and nearer to the flesh of his hand. His grip on the vanishing piece of paper only tightened.

Gaara walked closer to him as only a small piece of burning paper remained in his grasp.

"And I don't want anything from you", he said as his voice tremored underneath the immeasurable weight of his words and their origin. "I was taught to be wary of people like you, people who go around ordering everyone around, putting prices on heads and making them disappear as you please. I'm not going to allow you to put a price on my head. Your money doesn't scare me, and neither do your wealthy friends. You're right. I'm poor, I'm nothing, I'm nobody. But I'd rather be dead than be bought out by you."

At the snap of a finger the flame latched onto Gaara's hand, peeling back small layers in the form of dying embers. His burned flesh began to turn black and purple, his hand shaking from the pellucid contempt teeming inside of him. A small trickle of blood began to trickle down Gaara's forearm, seeping into the fabric of his rolled sleeve. The flame was unrelenting on the skin of his hand, and as his green eyes remained fixed onto Minato, their words were clearer than the ones spoken. It was as if the time that he spent burning, the fire burning him, was a testimonial to his jagged existence, his capacity to love unconditionally. The devouring light continued past Gaara's hand and started traveling onto the surface of his forearm when Minato had seen enough.

The older man grabbed a glass of ionized water in the liquor cabinet and doused the starving flame. A wispy breath of smoke succeeded the putting out of the flesh-eating conflagration. The excess that splashed Gaara dripped from his chin and from the tips of his hair.

Gaara slowly lowered his burned and hemorrhaging hand. He dropped the lighter to the ground; still keeping his persistent gaze on the taller man's heaving form. His stare contained the confutation that the voiceless couldn't deliver, and it fell on the ears of all of those who dared to disparage them. Minato, growing unsure of the strange person that was staring into him, slowly backed away from him. He looked down at the singed flesh, the blood dripping onto the wooden surface of the floor. Gaara's persistent indifference to the painful injury seized Minato's heart with fear and an otherworldly wonder.

The latch on the door turned over as two voices could be heard outside the door. The metal door slid open to reveal Naruto and Sakura involved in a quasi-heated debate. She stopped her entreaty to him to and inhaled the air of the loft as a strengthening putrid smell of burning skin and iron from blood infiltrated their senses.

Minato slung the glass container to the floor, sending chunks of glass across the wooden floor.

"You're fucking cracked!" Minato shot at his younger adversary.

The two men were concealed wholly behind the counter and the hanging steel vent fan over the stove. The two business partners stepped hurriedly into the loft to see the two at odds with one another. Naruto, prepared to intervene in the equivalent to a prison brawl, entered and his eyes grasped the ghastly sight of the hanging hand at Gaara's side. Sakura went into the kitchen still in search of the source of the horrid smell before she saw Naruto gaping at the two men in the living room.

Minato ran a hand through his hair before shooting his finger over at Gaara.

"I hope you know this is what you were about to walk into."

Sakura looked from Naruto, to Minato, then to Gaara. There was an increasing trail of ashes on the floor leading to where the two men stood. She reached down to pick one of them up and couldn't decipher anything from the blackened paper. After discarding the charred object she placed a hand over her mouth as he face contorted in disgust and shock.

"Oh my God", she pointed at the mangled skin hanging from the red haired man's hand before turning away.

Gaara didn't break his gaze at Minato; he delighted internally at the sheer horror that was plastered across his aged features. Naruto gently grabbed his forearm, some of the blood smearing onto the taller man's hands. Gaara finally turned to him, his emotionless menace contrasting vibrantly with the tears still drying on his cheeks.

"What happened?" His voice was panicked as he directed the question at the both of them. Minato's hand began to shake slightly as he reached up to his heart.

The younger dancer said nothing in return.

"He fucking set himself on fire!"

"What?!" Sakura shouted from the other side of the room.

"I don't know what kind of sick plan you have to get to my son but-"

"Watch it." Naruto growled in a deep menacing voice at his older likeness, striking him off guard.

Minato appeared as if someone had slapped him. Never in his life had he heard a harsh word from Naruto on the behalf of a lover. The feeling harpooned through his heart and sank to the pit of his gut.

"Instead of squabbling can anyone tell me what the fuck went on here?!"

"Ask the Big Spender", Gaara said slowly turning and walking toward the door. "I'm sure he'll be happy to fill you in."

Naruto dashed after him and grabbed him by his uninjured arm.

"You're not leaving."

"I already told you, I'm not your child."

"You're bleeding!"

"I burnt my hand. My legs can still take me where I need to go." Gaara turned to leave again when Naruto grabbed him once more.

"Let go of me!"

"I'm not letting you walk out of here with a bloody arm!"

"I'm not going to tell you again; I don't need your fucking permission!"

"You're going to the goddamned emergency room!"

"I can go to the emergency room without any assistance from you!"

"If he wants to go, let him go!" Minato shouted in disgust from the other side of the room.

"Stay out of this!" Naruto turned around and barked at his father. When he turned back, Gaara's footsteps trailed down the hallway. Sakura and Minato watched Naruto dart out the door for a moment. They could hear the sound of grappling bouncing off the walls of the hallway. The two remaining in the loft exchanged exasperated glances as the taller man reentered the doorway carrying a violently cursing and thrashing Gaara over his shoulder.

"Put me down!"

"Shut up."

Naruto slammed the door shut shortly before bolting it.

He dropped the younger man to his feet at a distance from the door great enough as to dissuade him from leaving again. Gaara grasped his bleeding arm as sharp pain wisped across the surface of his marred flesh. Sakura looked upon his condition with a growing sympathy.

She sighed deeply before reaching into her pocket for her car keys. "Come on", she said motioning with the top of her head toward the locked door. "There's a free-standing ER just two blocks down."

Naruto opened his mouth to object when Sakura interrupted him. "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"You were going to tell me that you wanted to take him to the ER."

"Well, it should be me."

"On the contrary", she said as Gaara went into the kitchen to tear off a few napkins from the roll with which to temporarily cover his arm. "As your agent, I'm compelled to tell what a stupid idea it is for you to be seen in public with the man every magazine in the country suspects you've been sleeping with for the past year. His bloody arm doesn't help matters much either", she stated, calmly opening the door again.

Minato scoffed at the precaution being made on behalf of the eccentric youth.

"Fine, just make sure he gets taken care of", he said in a stern voice before turning the man behind him. "I need to speak with my father alone."

Gaara's heart began to fall amidst the pain of his arm and he approached Naruto before the two made their exit. Naruto looked him in the eyes as he approached. As if captivated by the foul swill that filled the empty void of his past with his father, Gaara, standing at a distance from his older lover, made a plea not concurrent with his previous actions.

"Do you remember what I said earlier?"

Naruto searched inquisitively in his green eyes for meaning behind his strange inquiry.

He placed his unburned hand on Naruto's shoulder and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Naruto looked down at him and nodded. Sakura lifted a brow after the silent strange exchange of words as Gaara turned to leave with Sakura. The door closed behind them and Naruto turned to his father who was facing the window in an attempt to escape the trivial happenings of the room.

The two tall figures stood in silence.

The sound of the descending elevator shaft could be heard in the distance.

The intricately mired clouds on the other side of the large window in the living room began to part slowly atop a city that continued to move parsimoniously through time. The drying rain left small spots on the immediate surface of the glass as school of birds fluttered past its beholding of the skyline.

Naruto slipped his hands into his pockets, yet his resolve was unshaking.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened or do you want me to guess?"

Minato was unnerved by the calmness in his voice. "If I told you would it stop you from going through with this?"

"I would venture to say no."

"I offered him two million to stop seeing you", he said emotionlessly. "He took the check and burned it."

Naruto bit down on the interior of his mouth, keeping his vision on the window ahead of them.

"He said he'd rather die than be bought."

The younger man said nothing.

"I thought it was another one of his games, but the next thing I knew, his hand was on fire, and then it spread to his arm", he said in a ghastly tone. A fearful glassiness formed over his eyes. "I worked in an oil refinery for years when I was younger; I've seen my share of people on fire. But there was something different this time. I don't think I'll ever forget how calm he was. He just stood there, glaring at me, talking to me, letting it burn him; it was like he didn't even feel it."

Naruto cringed at the thought of his father's description of the day's events.

"It would've made more sense if he had just taken the money."

"Why?" Naruto inquired in frustration, finally turning to his father. "So you could tell yourself that you were right? About how he's a user and how I'm too fucking stupid to make my own decisions?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Of course it is. That's how it's always been. I'm the sheltered naïve son who can't fend for himself and anything I do has to be authorized by you, my all-knowing, all-seeing father."

Minato glared back at him. "Don't you dare make me out to be the aggressor here. All I've ever done ever since you were born was give you a better life than most parents could dream of. So don't pretend the be hurt all of the sudden because I don't approve of this little freak show you have going on."

"It wasn't a freak show when I was married to that lying bitch and taking care of some kid she kidnapped from a prostitute."

"Trust me, there have been worse siutations", he scoffed.

"Face it; the only reason why you disapprove is because Gaara is a man", Naruto accused in a direct tone.

"Fine, I'll admit it. I hate, detest, and loathe the idea of my son lying with another man. The very notion makes me sick to my stomach", Minato seethed. "And you know what? I'm not the only one who feels that way. The companies who sponsor you hate queers, the fans that watch you play hate queers; your own fucking best friends hate fags. The only reason Sakura's going along with all of this is because she loves you and she's your fucking agent."

"That's pathetic", Naruto spat as a strong anger welled within him. "You would rather see me married to the vilest woman on the face of this earth than to see me with a man who loves me."

Minato shot his index finger towards the window. "There are millions of women out there who are more than willing to give you everything you want. Why can't you fucking see that?"

"How could I not see it?!" Naruto shouted in exasperation. "That fact has been thrown in my face ever since the first time I was ever drafted. 'He can have any woman he wants.' I can see that clearer than I can see you standing in front of me."

"Then why the hell are you wasting your time with this fucking fag!?"

"Because I am a fucking fag!"

Minato took a step back. A sizeable portion of what radiated when he caught wind that Kushina was giving birth to a boy was dimmed to an almost invisible hue with the utterance of his son's emotive words. His shock was only exceeded by his despair at the inevitable. What he thought would go away would soon be displayed across headlines and the subject of conversation of all that populated their worlds. He began to fear the dark prospect of their very destruction.

"The same fags that my fans hate", he said intensely. "I'm one of them."

"….."

"And if that comes as a shock to you or them, I'm sorry", he continued. "But living a lie almost cost me the person I love more than football."

Minato looked into his likeness' eyes and could discern no trace of complaisance. For the first time he was confronted with the ineludible relinquishment of autonomy of his son's decision making, despite the fact that the severance had occurred long before their conversation in the wake of the rain.

The older man swallowed, still adjusting to the notion that there existed such a person that he loved more than the force that actuated his very life.

He placed his hands firmly on Naruto's shoulders. "I hope you know what you're doing, because nothing I can say or do can prepare you for what is about to happen of you go through with this."

Naruto simply stared back, his decidedness appearing to only grow stronger in the light of its inquisition.

Minato released his firm grip and walked to the door.

"He told me not to lose you."

His words stopped the older man in his tracks toward his exit. He turned slightly.

"What?"

"That's what he whispered to me before he left."

Minato said nothing.

"He told me not to let my feelings for him change how much I love you", Naruto said as a smile graced his face. "In fact, this morning he told me that no matter how terrible you've been to him, he could never hate you because he wishes he had a father who loved him as much as you love me."

Like a pair of rose petals floating down to meet the earth in death, Minato's heart deliquesced.

A torrent of rain ransacked the lower side of Los Angeles at the nine o'clock hour neared. The sky's prominent blackness darkened the mood of the foul night as sudden sharp interruptions of fractured light flickered across the ominous night's view.

Amidst the rain, in a tall building in the continually bustling lower north side of downtown, a light remained on the seventh floor. A reproachful eye locked on to the enduring light beneath the brim of her soaked umbrella before charging forward into the nearly empty insurance building. A loud crack of thunder marked her entrance into the lobby as a bumbling security guard slept soundly against the surface of the information desk in front of her.

She collapsed her dripping umbrella and looked up to the counter being attended to by an indisposed security guard. He looked to be in his late forties. His beard was peppered with gray hair and the lines on his closed eyes slightly reached to his temples. His hair was of the same hue and waved slightly, much like her own. His tall and robust stature slumped over the short counter, painting a comical picture to the woman who entered.

"Honestly…", she scoffed. "It's a good thing I don't have a bomb strapped to my tits."

Her heels clicked past the desk and toward the elevators to the right of the snoozing guard without him discovering her presence. She approached the row of silver elevator doors before pressing the lit button, resulting in a soft 'ding'. In her peripheral vision she saw the previously slumbering guard shoot up from his sleeping position, his red eyes looking around for the source of the noise. He rose to his feet to meet the intruder around the corner of the marble tiled wall that separated them. Expecting a gruff wrongdoer, he saw instead a shapely woman with long and richly dark hair wearing a white blouse and a black skirt, with an umbrella and a rain coat in her hand. Her face was resilient against time and her demeanor resembling that of a woman scorned.

He didn't notice that he was staring until she kindly pointed it out to him.

"Can I help you?" She asked impatiently as the elevator shaft descended.

He shook himself from his inner thoughts and cleared his throat. "Our offices are closed at the moment, ma'am. The building is restricted to Insuricom overnight personnel until business hours resume."

"Really?" She inquired sarcastically. "For a restricted building, it sure was easy to walk in, especially considering the fact that you were in a coma less than thirty seconds ago."

He opened his bearded mouth to rebut her sharp retort when she cut him off by offering another.

"Look, my step-father is an agent here; I'm just going upstairs to talk to him for a moment. I won't be long at all."

"Ma'am, the only way you're authorized to be in this building is if you're escorted by a member of the security staff", he said in a quasi-stern voice.

"And let me guess, that would be you?" The elevator doors parted.

He stretched his long arm out into the elevator. "After you."

She looked at him incredulously. "You're not serious."

"Unfortunately I am."

Marcia sighed deeply, shaking her head as the both of them walked inside and she pressed the lit button marked seven. The tall security guard crossed his hands in front of him as they ascended to the floor of Harold's office in an afflictive silence. The guard periodically relied on his peripheral vision to catch a glimpse of the regal woman standing next to him. Her perfume reminded him of the ambrosial scents breathed into the exuberant day air by a gallant meadow.

He decided to break the silence before they reached the seventh floor.

"I didn't know Harold had any step-children…"

"You know him?"

"Not very well. I've only chatted with him a few times in the break room."

"I'm sorry", she said bitingly. "Those were moments you're never going to get back."

"He's not such a bad guy."

"You really must not know him very well, then."

"What's wrong with him?"

She sighed. "There's nothing wrong with him per se, it's just…I don't think he and my father are exactly compatible, not at this stage in their lives."

The security guard chuckled. "Don't tell me, they're one of those couples that bring out the worst in each other."

"Exactly."

"How long have they been together?"

She laughed to herself.

"What?" He asked.

"Sorry", she said still thinking to herself. "I just haven't really thought about how long it's been until now."

"That long, huh?"

"Since I was a little girl."

"Must not have been that far back then", the guard said flirtatiously as the doors of the elevator parted. He politely motioned for her to exit before him with a sly smile, internally congratulating himself on finally finding a way to smoothly compliment the woman ahead of him.

She walked ahead of him for a moment and turned back with inquisitiveness in her brown eyes.

"What was your name again?"

"Arturo", he said smiling. "But Art is fine too."

"Marcia", she said reaching across to shake his hand.

They finally came upon the door to the room where Harold's cubicle was located.

A moment of silence passed between them as they looked about uncomfortably, still searching for the right words to further a conversation both wanted to facilitate but neither had the fortitude to foster.

"I think I had better come clean", Art said scratching the back his head.

"About what?"

"You really didn't need me to escort you up here. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you."

Marcia looked down briefly and laughed. "I know."

"You knew?"

"Yep."

"So you just let me lie and didn't call me on it."

"Yep", she said boastfully. "But I figured since I've had such a shitty day I deserved a little flattery."

He chuckled. "Nice. I wasn't expecting that one."

"They never do."

"Well, now that that's out in the open, would you want to finish our conversation, maybe over dinner?"

"No."

His face tipped on the edge of disappointed rejection.

"But we can definitely start another conversation over dinner", she said cheekily. "I'd rather not spend a perfectly good date talking about my step-father."

Arturo laughed heartily.

"Scared you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did", he said pulling a card out of his chest pocket. "But I forgive you."

Marcia looked down at the small card.

Arturo D. Miller – Contracting Premises Security Services – Private and Commercial

"Freelance", she said with approval. "I love man in business for himself."

He began to back away, keeping his eyes on hers. "Give me a call soon so we can set something up."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Marcia smiled warmly to herself as the tall man disappeared down the hallway. She turned on her heels and opened the door to reveal a large room filled with cubicles in rows of five and six, each with a desk, three chairs, a computer, a small filing cabinet and bulletin board on the wall behind the salesperson's chair. She could see a lamp highlighting desk in the far corner of the room.

She found her resolve again in the aftermath of her enchanting encounter and hastened to the lit corner of the room.

Faint typing could be heard as she came closer to Harold's cubicle.

When she turned the last corner she found his tall frame hunched over the desk, his fingers clicking away furiously and independently from his insipid countenance. He scarcely acknowledged the presence of the additional body in the empty workroom. Marcia's heart dropped slightly when, for the first time, she noticed the thinness of his hair, which was previously thick and grayish-white and was noow blending in with the color of his nearly naked scalp.

His deep sigh was his only signification of his life. "Did Gabriel send you down here to bring me home?"

"You of all people should know that if my father was looking for you he would've come down here himself."

Harold said nothing in return.

"Besides, I don't think he'll be leaving that shithole apartment for a little while after today."

He continued to type. "What do you want, Marcia?"

"I came down here in the pouring rain to inform you that I rue the day my father ever met you."

"Well, I'm sorry you wasted the trip, but I already knew that", he said brushing aside her biting remark and continuing to type.

Marcia bit down on the inside of her cheek in anger before walking around to the back of the computer in order to look the older man in his eyes.

"You know damned well why I came here."

He persisted in his work. "I can't say I do", he said flippantly.

In a surge of frustration at being ignored, the salon owner took firm grip of the computer's power cord and yanked it abruptly from the outlet, earning a loud reaction from Harold. The only light that exposed them was that which shined over the singular cubicle.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?! That was a whole day of work!"

"Who gives a shit?! You're not making any money here anyway!"

Harold rose from his chair to grab the dislodged cord before its auto-save function expired, only for Marcia's foot to guard it. He stood upright again.

"Look I don't know why you came down here but you need to leave, now!"

"I'm not going anywhere until I say what I have to say!"

"What the fuck do you want Marcia?!"

"Ever since the day you and my father have embarked upon this haphazard, irresponsible excuse for a relationship you've done nothing but release the floodgates for the outpouring of your family drama, your financial burdens, and your idiotic closeted, roach-motel, welfare-chic, mediocre lifestyle to be dumped upon my father. And I want to go on record for saying that I have been against it from day one. The ONLY reason why I even put up with you is to appease my father, who would give his last dime to make sure you're happy, and unfortunately he has. Because of your pointless search for your fag-hating family, my seventy-one year old father has to go back to work after just having his back fused."

"…"

"And just when I think things can't get any worse for him, he has to find out from a goddamned motherfucking VOICEMAIL THAT HIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT HUSBAND IS FUCKING DYING FROM GODDAMNED FUCKING COLON CANCER!" She screamed until her vocal passage burned as tears poured from her eyes at her father's predicament.

Harold retreated running his hands through his hair. He could hear his step-daughter's ragged breathing emitting from behind him. He wanted to turn around but couldn't muster the strength to look the product of his husband's toll and price in the eyes. The guilt and pain bred into his own son's life finally had begun to bleed profusely into the life of the child of his lover. Her father wept in an apartment building many blocks away, yet somehow his weeping flowed to douse the fire of their confrontation with a lamentable ease.

Marcia quickly wiped her tear stained face.

"My father has given me and my son so much that I couldn't possibly begin to repay him. All I wanted to do for him was give him a clean, safe place to live in these last years so he can live out the rest of his life in peace. And I can't even do that, because one thing he'll never give up on is how much he loves you", she seethed.

Harold said nothing.

"So, tell me, when were you going to tell him?"

"….."

"Maybe you're too much of a coward to tell him. Maybe you were just going to go off somewhere and die, and leave him to clean up your mess, just like you always do."

"…..."

Marcia wiped her eyes again, fire burning in here brown eyes. "Don't just stand there, say something!"

He fixed his mouth to say something, but words escaped him. The felicitous and heartwarming image of Gabriel that peaceable occupied his mind began to disappear, bringing a darkness to his world that he was not prepared to face. Although it indeed was he who stood at the steps to the path to his demise he felt as if his beloved followed behind him.

"….I'm sorry….."

"What?"

"….I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry? You just destroyed my father's whole world and didn't even have the balls to tell him yourself and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'?"

The tall man fell to his knees and began to sob furiously. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

As she stood over the pitiable creature she tried to make out the words he sputtered through his sorrowful display. He cried out for his son, his grandson and his partner, the three men in his life that he'd pushed away for the final time. She looked upon him with a feeling that far surpassed pity; it was a feeling of melancholy that seeped from his weeping eyes in such a way that the very atmosphere of the floor of cubicles compelled her to leave.

With her feet leading her to the door, a bright question illuminating the dark floor caused her to stop. She couldn't bring herself to turn to him.

"Answer me this."

His sobbing softened.

"Colon cancer is operable, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"Then why didn't you accept treatment?"

Harold opened his tightly shut eyes to look at the floor beneath him.

"Treatment starts at $500,000 and goes up depending on how much the cancer resists. Our insurance doesn't cover that."

"….."

"And I figured since my grandson thinks I'm dead, my son wants me dead, then maybe I'd be doing everyone else a favor if I were dead."

"Everyone except my father."

Harold's eyes began to water again as Marcia turned and exited the office.

The white walls and blasé surroundings inside the room made waiting for the doctor all the more uncomfortable as Gaara fidgeted atop the leather surface. His eyes drifted down to the bandaging the covered his burned arm as Sakura looked disapprovingly over at him.

"You're not very good at thinking things through, are you?"

"I made my point."

"You could've done that without sending yourself to the emergency room. I do have much better things to do than to sit here and babysit you."

"You don't have to stay here."

"Yes that's a great idea; I should leave and let Naruto chew me out later because I left you here."

"Boy what a day it'll be when everyone stops treating me like I'm a fucking kid!"

"Lower your voice!"

"Look, if you don't want to be here then you can wait for me in the waiting room or something. Anything is better than sitting here and listening to you complain."

"You still haven't told me what the hell happened in there."

"I already told you, I made my point."

Sakura sighed deeply and massaged her temples. "A few details would be nice. "

"I was naked on the couch, he woke me up, offered me a check for two million, I set the check on fire."

"Why the fuck did he offer you two million dollars?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Still, it's a little odd that he would've offered you that much", Sakura said more so to herself. "He must really want you gone."

"I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving already", Gaara spat sarcastically as he picked at the tape that held his bandaging together.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Picking at the gauze. You'll start bleeding again."

"Yes mother."

"You know, I'm still not quite sure what Naruto sees in you."

"Welcome to the club."

"It's too bad that Naruto has his sights set on you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Charlotte and Minato are but two of many people not in the least bit amused about your relationship with Naruto."

"I'm starting to realize that."

"I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

Gaara chuckled. "The truth is, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone like Naruto is even interested in someone like me, let alone the fact that he says he loves me."

Sakura's stomach dropped.

"Men like Naruto usually find some drop-dead gorgeous Brazilian supermodel to put on their arm, and ninety percent of the time they are women. I haven't the foggiest clue what Naruto sees in me. I can't give him children; the world is going to hate me when they starting thinking I turned their prized athlete into a fag just like me. It makes me sick to my stomach when I think of him losing everything he's worked for just for me. I don't want that, I swear I don't want that."

"…"

"So to answer your question, no, I don't know what I'm getting myself into."

The light gray door opened to reveal a woman in a white coat with ha stethoscope around her neck and red plastic clipboard in her grasp. Her blonde hair was tied into a neat bun with a few strands falling to her freckled face. She looked up from Gaara's files to reveal her brown eyes behind a pair of black framed glasses.

"Good afternoon Mr. Sebaku, I'm Dr. Howe." She reached out and shook his unburned hand. "Looks like you've got yourself a pretty nasty burn there."

"I guess you could say that." He said, trying to think of a lie to tell her.

"How'd you get it?"

"I was cooking and my hand got a little too close to the burners. I'm so clumsy when I get in a hurry", he said laughing nervously.

The doctor turned and looked at Sakura. "Well it's a good thing your friend here brought you in when she did. That could've gotten infected and believe me, gangrene is nothing pretty."

"I believe you", Gaara said with a biting smile as Sakura chuckled in her chair in the corner.

Two pairs of feet approached Naruto's front door. Before Sakura could raise her fist to knock, the doors slid open to reveal Naruto in the spacious loft alone.

"Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine."

Sakura spoke up. "He's all yours. You're welcome. I'm going home. I think I've seen enough episodes of the Young and the Skinless for one day", she said in regards to Gaara flippantly and walked in the direction of the elevator.

"Thanks Sakura", Naruto called after her.

"Remember we need to go over that endorsement contract before you leave for LA. And don't be late this time."

Naruto smiled as the elevator shaft descended. He slid the metal door closed and turned to see Gaara standing in the foyer fiddling with a loose end of the tape bandage on his arm.

"So?"

"They cut the dead skin off and the doctor said if I use this medicated lotion every day I should heal fast enough for my showcase."

"That's a relief", he said sincerely. "If this was your way of getting back at me for following you, it worked."

"Where's your father?"

"He's on his way to his flight back to LA. Our little talk didn't go as well as I thought it would."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Why?"

Gaara looked back down at his hands. "I was kinda hoping you two would make up. I thought maybe then I wouldn't feel so guilty", he said with a forced laugh.

"Look, my dad made his choice. Who I'm with is my decision and if he can't accept that then maybe it's best that we live on separate coasts", Naruto said coming closer.

"But I-"

"Nothing that happened while you were gone is your fault."

"Still, I can't help but feel responsible. I shouldn't have done what I did to today", Gaara rested his hand on Naruto's chest. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He smiled down at him. "Besides it looks like I'll be seeing him pretty soon."

"Really? When?" A new hope was renewed in him that the pattern of annihilation had not been transferred over to Naruto's relationship with his father.

"My god parents are throwing a party at the governor's mansion the night after my game in LA and they insist that I bring my new girlfriend my mother told them about."

Gaara stared into blank space for a moment, his mind not registering the host of potentially unfortunate events that could unfold before the end of the month. He wanted to pretend that what Minato said about the line the Naruto came from was greatly exaggerated, yet as the day continued the older man's word's proved truer and truer.

"Gaara?"

"Huh?" He fell out of his trance.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"No."

"I said my god parents are throwing a party at the governor's mansion and they want me to bring my new girlfriend", he said with a grin on his face. "Isn't that hilarious?"

"Yeah", he said still aghast. "Hilarious."

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Correct me if I'm wrong. If your god parents are throwing a ball at the governor's mansion, would that perchance make your godfather governor Rankin?"

"Of course."

"Just making sure."

I think I'm going to faint.

"You don't really plan on bringing me, do you?"

"Of course I am."

"That's not funny."

"Who's laughing?" Naruto smirked before heading to the cabinet and pouring himself a drink. Gaara watched him in disbelief as he walked over to the sofa and sat in front of the TV. Gaara walked over and sat next to him with the same look of incredulousness.

"Naruto, I know you've done some crazy things but this by far the fucking craziest thing you've ever done. You can't take me to the governor's mansion."

"Of course I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

"Discounting the fact that this idea is too stupid to even debate, how am I supposed to perform my showcase and be in LA in less than 24 hours?"

"By plane you could be there in no time."

"I can't pay for a plane ticket right now."

"I'll fly you out."

"I already told you, I'm not accepting anymore favors from you."

"Fine, then just think of it as a favor to me."

"No one is doing anyone any favors, now just stop with this whole idea right now!"

Naruto reached over to grab Gaara's thigh. "Make me."

Gaara grabbed the hand on his thigh and pushed it away. "I'm not going with you."

"They wanted me to bring my new redheaded love interest, so that's what I'm doing."

"No, that is not what you're doing because I'm not going."

"So you want me to disappoint my god parents?"

"They think I'm a woman!"

"They won't mind."

"Won't mind?! Have you lost what's left of your mind?!"

"I'm done with this conversation." Naruto rose to his feet and slung Gaara over his should for the third time that day. "You owe me from last night."

"I owe you nothing you self-entitled thick-headed jackass, put me the fuck down right now or I'll kick your ass to LA and back!"

Naruto tossed him onto the bed. "So you're going with me?"

"NO!"

Naruto undid his silk black tie and began to unbutton his shirt.

"First of all I am not about to have sex with you", he said as his heart began to beat fast. Naruto climbed onto the bed and pinned him down. Gaara could feel the pulse in wrist gently pressing against the hands that bound him. A cooling numbness befell him as he began to drop his restraints.

"Ok, give me this and I'll forget the whole idea."

Gaara gazed into his eyes with much suspicion. His cool breath on his face made it hard to decline as his body began to melt. "Promise?"

"Don't push it."

Naruto pulled every article of clothing from his lover one by one until only his bare skin pressed against the warm sheets. He leaned and devoured the quivering lips that anxiously awaited him. The younger man's arms slowly encircled Naruto's neck as the space between their bodies disappeared, the heat from them rising.

The athlete's lips slowly roamed down to Gaara's neck before he delicately sank his teeth into the flesh of the nape, making his breath pause for a silken moment in time.

Naruto turned onto his back and gently motioned for Gaara climb on top of him. His heart began to race as he could feel the tip of Naruto's length brushing dangerously near his entrance.

I can never say no to you

The redhead leaned down and pressed his lips onto Naruto's, soon he could feel the latter's tongue enter his mouth. Gaara pulled back and slowly ran his tongue from his neck, tracing his chest down to his throbbing length. Naruto ran his hands through Gaara's red hair as a smile graced his lips.

"There's something else you should know", he said in between groans of ecstasy. "My godmother knows our linebacker's wife. Word sort of got around that I'm dating someone."

Gaara came back up with his hair tousled and straddled Naruto's midsection.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Who exactly did the word get around to?"

"All of the players' wives."

Gaara smacked his palm onto his face, shaking his head in dismay. "Let me guess. I'm in the club."

Naruto gave a cheeky smile. "They want you at their next meeting."

"I'm guessing they also think I'm a woman."

"It's probably safe to say so."

Gaara sighed as he climbed over Naruto and out of the bed. "Remind me to kill you later." As he began to make his way over to threshold of the bathroom, Naruto rose from his laying position to go after him.

"It's not like it's that big of a deal. All I have to do is explain-"

"Explain what, Naruto? 'Sorry to disappoint you all but it turns out my mystery woman is actually a guy'. I'm sure everyone will be in stitches after that laugh."

Gaara grabbed his things and went into the bathroom.

"Come on Gaara, don't be like that." Naruto called out after him to no avail as the door closed in front of him. He ran his hand over his face as the sounds of ruffling clothes emitted from the interior of the closed off room.

Naruto jumped out of the bed and ran into the bathroom. He pushed open the door to see Gaara putting all of his clothes back on.

"In my opinion, this is all just a sign that we're doing the right thing."

Gaara zipped his pants and shot his finger in Naruto's face.

"I will not be dragged into this. Your godparents are the most conservative couple to ever live in the Governor's mansion in California. All of those fucking wives are expecting another WOMAN to show up to their stupid trophy wife jamboree. Maybe this sounded like a plan in your head, but on the outside it's a fucking disaster waiting to happen!"

Naruto attempted to come closer to him only for Gaara to move around him and exit the bathroom. The older man sighed as he followed him into the living room.

"Gaara…"

"Don't you 'Gaara' me. Your ex-wife almost got my mother thrown in prison, not to mention trying to kill me. Your father just tried to pay me off with two fucking million dollars. I'm not in the mood for your godparents to try to one-up the anti-Gaara efforts thus far."

"Gaara…"

"This is so fucking stupid. I can't even take a fucking shit without someone rubbing my face that I'm nothing and that a tramp like me doesn't even have the birthright to breath in your air."

"Gaara…"

"And now we're preparing to add your rich and powerful godparents to the long list of people who want me dead."

"Gaara!" Naruto's voice boomed, making him jolt slightly. The older man felt a tinge of guilt for raising his voice. He walked over to Gaara and grabbed his bandaged hand before lifting it to his bearded lips.

Gaara too began to regret his harsh words. I shouldn't have gone on like that. If he's willing to risk his entire livelihood for me, the least I can do is support him, if that's truly what will make him happy. Perhaps that's it. Maybe I don't actually believe he'll always be happy with me, and his sacrifice will be in vain when he gets tired of me. He'd kill me if he knew I was thinking like that.

Naruto continued to press his loving kisses onto the younger man's burned hand. The sun outside was beginning to show signs of setting once again as the rain and thunder from before began to return. The building vibrated slightly from the rumbling sound from outside.

The taller man began to pull Gaara by his hands towards the bar. The young dancer reluctantly followed him until Naruto was seated in the round backless seat. He wrapped his arm span around Gaara's waist and buried his face in the younger man's stomach.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

"Begging."

"For what?"

"For you to stay, and not be angry at me."

"I really need to go, Naruto."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"But I made reservations for 7."

Gaara sighed softly as his arms traveled over the top of Naruto's shoulders. "Fine, I'll stay."

Naruto yanked him into his lap. "That's more like it."

"I'm still angry at you."

"Why?"

Gaara put his hand on top of Naruto's and looked into his blue eyes. "Can I be totally honest with you?"

"Of course", Naruto said with a slightly concerned expression on his face. "What's up?"

"I think what you're doing is noble, not to mention unfathomably brave", Gaara said still maintaining eye contact. "But I don't think introducing me to all of those people is a good idea."

Naruto remained silent as he processed his lover's words.

"Think about it. Sakura, your mother, your father and I are the only ones who know. It's news to everyone else. You'll be giving them two reasons to shit themselves in one night; you're gay and you've been sleeping with me."

"Well what the fuck are they expecting? Do they think I'm supposed to be gay and not be sexually attracted anyone?"

"Hey", Gaara said throwing his hands up in defeat. "I never said it made sense, I'm just trying not to get lynched."

"They only lynch people in the South."

"You know what I mean."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Don't get me wrong. I believed every word you said to me last night and I love you for it", Gaara said. "I just want you to be smart about it."

Gaara brushed some of Naruto's blond hair out of his eyes. The older man smirked up at him.

"Why do you have to be right about everything."

"I'm not right about everything."

"Yeah you are."

"No I'm not; there have been plenty of times when I've been wrong."

"Name one."

"I was wrong that time we were looking for a place to eat and I said the Mexican place on 136th was closed. They were open until 12."

"You picked the minutest unrelated example you could find."

"It's not unrelated. You asked for an example of a time when I was wrong and I gave you one. It's not my fault you didn't like my example."

The thunder outside clapped loudly, shaking the building again.

Gaara turned his head towards the large window that was covered in running rain water. "Are you sure we should go out?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Getting swept away by torrential rain wasn't on my to-do list."

"You're from fucking Louisiana; you know how to drive in rain better than the both of us."

"Yeah, but you drive like you're on cocaine when it's raining."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because it's true. The last time it was raining you almost hit a guy."

"I didn't almost hit a guy."

"Thanks to his quick footwork, he barely dodged the hood of your car."

Naruto's hand reached over Gaara's leg.

"He was walking on the wrong side of the road."

"It's a side walk; there aren't any wrong sides."

He noticed the taller man's hands getting closer and closer to the inside of his thigh.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Groping you."

"Stop it."

"Why can't I grope you?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Come on, we have almost three hours before our reservation."

"I'm guessing a simple conversation is out of the question", Gaara said sarcastically.

"We were about to have sex before you walked out."

Gaara smirked down at him before getting up. "Hm…I guess we were." He walked into the bedroom.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He got up from the leather seat and followed his path. The rain outside began to intensify as the sun's rays faded away. The entire building seemed to be moving in the familiar motion of the wild wind.

When he walked into the room Gaara was naked atop the ruffled sheets. He playfully rolled onto his stomach. His sea foam green eyes flickered dangerously behind the darkness of the room and the flashes of light coming from outside. The soothing blue light from the window revealed the curvature of his body. His fiery red hair gently rested over one of his eyes, before his hand brushed the strands away.

His smile never wavered as the taller man stood captivated in the doorway.

"It means I want you to make love to me."

"Promise you won't run out on me this time?" Naruto closed the large door behind him as he advanced toward the bed. Gaara got up from the bed and stood squarely in front of his older counterpart. Their eyes met in a moment that erased the passing time.

Naruto's length was throbbing as it brushed against Gaara's inner thigh before meeting his own.

"It's been a while. Do you think you can handle it?"

Gaara smirked.

"Why don't we start where we left off?"

"Have you talked to him today?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause on the phone before Gabriel started speaking again. His voice was gaunt and hollow.

"We didn't say very much."

"…"

Marcia massaged her tired temples at her desk. One of her stylists called her name from the salon floor. She didn't answer.

"Have you found anything yet?"

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do anymore."

"I thought you went to look for a lender?"

"We got denied for another one," he said quietly. "That was the twelfth one already. They said our credit combined wasn't even good enough."

She sighed deeply. The sound of her father's soft sobs crossed the barrier with an eerie stealth.

"Have you talked to his ex-wife yet?"

Gabriel paused for a moment. "He told me not to even mention it to her. But I called her anyway; she even said she couldn't manage it."

"Dad we can't just stamp 'dead' on his forehead. There has to be something we can do. What about your retirement pensions? That has to at least cover some of it."

"We haven't enough retirement between the two of us to even put a dent in the bill."

"…."

"I never thought I'd end up here again."

"What are you talking about?"

Gabriel cleared his sinuses for a moment.

"You know, when your mother got sick we were twice as broke as we are now."

She sighed. "dad…"

"I did everything I could. I called relatives, friends, the church, I guess loans aren't as easy to come by anymore. I didn't want to stop until we had enough. I even went so far as to ask your uncle."

She released a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I remember how much you two hated each other."

"I failed then and I'm failing again."

"Don't talk like that!"

"I should have known he was sick. He hasn't been himself for the past couple of months. The doctor says at this rate he might not even make to the operating table, even if we do manage to find the money."

"Do not blame yourself for this. There was no way for you to know he had a terminal illness. He was the one who hid it from you this whole time."

"Can you blame him?"

"Yes, I very well can blame him for this," she said with scorn in her voice. "You're his goddamned husband for fuck's sake. There isn't an excuse good enough for not telling you."

"Losing your mother nearly killed me…I'm not sure what I'll do if I lose him."

"You're not going to lose him, dad."

"I want to believe that Marcia", he said earnestly. "Desperately I do. But the hours and days that go by keep taking things from me. I don't know what they'll take next."

"Look, I'm going out of town on business. I'll figure something out. But Harold is not going to die."

"…"

"Dad, I saw what happened to you when mom died. It's been years now and I see your face when you look her pictures. I'll do anything and everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"…"

Her eyes began to water. "I know I give him a lot of shit. But that's only because you're my dad and I'd go to prison over someone hurting you."

"…"

"I'll only be gone for a couple of days. When I come back, Harold will be having this operation."

"How can you say something like that for sure?"

"I know someone who can help."

"Who could you possibly know with that kind of money?"

"Don't worry about it! Just make sure the old fart stays alive until I get back."

"He's dying and there's nothing we can do." His cries increased in volume. He said something unintelligible between sobs.

Marcia sighed. "I'll call you when I make it there."

She hung up the phone. "I'm going to regret this."

She called a number from the Energy Corridor.

The phone rang a few times.

"Zeneca Refineries."

"Yes, my name is Marcia Murchison. I'm just confirming my appointment at 3 with Mr. Uzumaki."

"Yes I have you down, we'll see you shortly."

"Thanks."

She grabbed her purse and walked through the salon floor as if on death row. Her stylists gave her inquisitive looks. She turned to a blonde haired woman at the receptions desk.

"Watch the shop for me for a couple of hours. I'll be back to close up tonight."