Chapter 41: Gaara's Dilemma

Gaara's POV

"You're so lucky . . ."

"And why would you say that?" I mumbled as I watched Izuka walk to the exit, the dress she wore swaying with every movement she made. It was, admittedly, an alluring sight, but I knew if I continued to watch, Temari would tease me endlessly for it, so I looked away before Izuka walked out the door.

When I turned to face my sister, she was looking at me with a pleased grin, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking about. . .

. . . Damn that sisterly intuition of hers.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asks, crossing her arms over her chest. "You, my dear little brother, you have a thing for Izuka."

"No, I don't. I don't have a thing for Izuka." I immediately say, keeping my voice as firm as possible to get my point across.

Judging from Temari's grin, it wasn't working in the slightest.

"Why are you lying to me? It's obvious that you do," she tells me as she folds her arms behind her back. "I've seen you sneaking looks Izuka's way when she's not paying attention . . . And then there's the dream you just had."

"Can we please not bring this up again?" I ask, rolling my eyes at my sister's words.

"Why not?! Seeing you squirm is just too good a sight to pass on," she tells me with glee as she leaned forward in her seat. ". . . Then again, you would be just as embarrassed, if not more, if Izuka allowed me to tell her what I know."

"Oh, you would have loved that wouldn't ya?"

"Technically, yes," She concedes, looking not the least bit repentant. "And don't you think Izuka has a right to know? After all, she was the primary focus of your dream after all."

"Don't remind me. . ." I grumble, knowing that her constant teasing was of my own making.

If only I had kept my thoughts to myself, I would be scot free right now. Unfortunately, my habit of speaking out loud when I'm thinking through something confusing really bit me in the ass this time around.

I thought I was alone in the stairway as I was making my way to the set, but lo and behold, Temari had been silently following close behind me. I had no idea she was even there until I had reached the base of the stairwell and she accidentally tripped on her own two feet right behind me. By the time I realized what happened, she was already booking it over to Kankuro in the waiting area, where she reported everything that she heard to him.

I've never felt so betrayed in my life, andtheir matching grins did not help things either.

"C'mon Gaara, the fact that you even dreamed about Izuka already speaks volumes," Temari adds. "When was the last time you went to sleep and dreamed about a girl, not including me or Mom of course?"

"Practically never. . ." I admit, ignoring the smirk that seemed to be permanently etched on her face now.

"Exactly!" She declares. "Izuka, at the very least, has piqued your interest. This you cannot deny!"

I was going to say something, but the sight of Naruto entering the room stopped me in my tracks. Dressed in a black polo and khaki shorts, he looked pretty normal compared to the rest of us, except for the multiple glow stick rings around his wrists, head, and neck, and the paint streaks that outlined his whisker marks.

"Heading to a rave anytime soon Naruto?" Temari is quick to ask as he sits down right next to her.

"I definitely feel like I'm in a party mood with all these glow sticks on me," He mumbles as he gestured to all his 'jewelry'. "How are you handling all the soot Gaara?"

"It's slowly growing on me," I admit. "Can't wait to get all this off me though."

"Fair enough. . ." Naruto concedes as he turns his head. "What's with that look on your face Temari?"

"Oh no," I whisper, now noticing the cheeky, conspiratorial grin on her face. "Temari, don't you do it!"

"Do what little brother?"

"We both know exactly what you're planning," I say, my eyes narrowing. "Do not tell him!"

"Tell me what exactly?"

"GAARA YOU'RE UP!"

Kakashi's yell caught us off guard, interrupting us before either Temari or I could give Naruto a straight answer. He was waving me over as Kankuro walked toward us with a pleased grin on his face, walking with a spring in his step as he finally pulled his Christmas light crown off his head.

"We'll talk later," I say, knowing that I couldn't keep the director waiting for too long. "Temari, don't you dare say a word while I'm gone."

"Hmm, I'll try not to . . . But I make no promises."

It was not the words I was hoping to hear.

"You okay little bro?" Kankuro asks, his smirk showing that he knew full well what Temari and I were likely discussing while he was taking his turn in front of the camera. "You look a little stressed out there. . . Temari giving you a hard time huh?"

"You have no idea. . . And can you try to not let her blab my secret to Naruto?" I ask as I walk past him.

"I don't know. I may be a bit too late on that front."

". . . Wonderful," I mumble to myself, not even bothering to turn my head as I went directly to where Kakashi was waiting for me.

"Good to see you Gaara," The masked director greeted me as I stepped forward, his eyes narrowing slightly as I tried to keep my emotions cool. "Something wrong?"

"Just my older sister annoying me to no end, as usual," I admit. "It's the price I pay for being the youngest of three."

"Ah yes. . . Being the baby of the family can be troublesome at times."

"Do you have any siblings Kakashi?"

"No! I'm an only child, but I've known my closest friends for so long they might as well be my biological siblings," He admits. "So, why exactly is your sister annoying you to no end huh? Couldn't help but notice how bothered you looked with her whenever she started speaking."

"Was I really being that obvious?"

"Very . . ." He tells me, his tone serious instead of teasing. "Is it something embarrassing, or quite personal to you?"

"It's technically both, I guess," I admit as we start walking over to my assigned set. "I had, uh, quite the dream while at the sleep center, and I didn't know what to completely make of it . . . When I'm confused about something, I tend to think it through by speaking out loud."

"And you made the mistake of speaking out loud when your sister was in hearing distance, right?"

"More like I had no idea she was walking right behind me down the stairs as I was speaking, to be precise," I say with a sigh. "How she remained so silent while walking in those platform boots is beyond me."

"The ways of women do tend to elude us men sometimes," Kakashi sagely admits as he brings a hand to his chin. "Anyway, it appears to me that the reason Temari is being so successful in getting under your skin is because you are allowing it to affect you . . . So, what if she knows!? By allowing it to disturb you, you give her power over you, and so far, she seems to be enjoying it."

"You have no idea. . ." I admit. "So, what you're trying to say is that if I showed Temari that her knowing the details of my dream no longer bothers me, she'll stop with the teasing?"

"I believe so, but I guess it does kinda depend on what exactly you dreamt about," He adds. "It's up to you. After all, it is your choice if you want to listen to me or not, but for now, I need you to focus on the here and now . . . Can you do that for me?"

"I believe so," I say as we finally reached the set up that I was supposed to pose in. My set looked like a very convincing entrance into a mine shaft, complete with a set of tracks leading out from the gaping hole. Just off to the side was a small log that was just big enough to serve as a seat, and a pick axe.

My co-star, the lantern, was waiting right in the middle of the entrance.

"Gaara, this is the photographer, Mr. Haru Tokage," Kakashi tells me, gesturing to the older man with salt and pepper hair holding the camera. "He's probably one of the most vocal photographers you can ever meet in this industry."

"Well, I certainly have my opinions," The man admits with a grin before turning to me. "Don't worry. I try to be helpful with my words whenever I can . . . Um, are the rings around the eyes part of the soot?"

"Oh no, they're real. He just has a mighty strong case of insomnia," Kakashi explains for me. "Just like Izuka, the girl posing in the chandelier set?"

"I see. . . It's just that the soot blends in so well with the rings that I thought it was all makeup!"

"If only that was the case. . ." I think to myself as I walk over to the lantern. I've grown used to my insomnia rings at this point in my life, but sometimes I do have the passing thought of wishing that they were just a little smaller, usually on days when I feel like I look too much like a tanuki for my liking.

"Okay, so, we just want you to have a little fun with your set. Our 'mine entrance' does go back a couple feet, so you can actually mimic an actual miner emerging from the shaft after a long day's work," Kakashi explains to me as I take hold of my prop and turn it on. "Let's do that for the first few frames shall we?"

I nod before heading into the fake mine shaft, smirking slightly to see that the back of it was made with pitch black fabric, giving the entire set up an eerie feel. Turning around, I hold my lantern out slightly from my body before fixing my face so that it would look tired enough without being too literal.

"Ooh, now that's a good opening pose!"

My shoot lasted for about fifteen minutes. I thought my shots during the first half of it were okay, but apparently, from the way that the photographer and Kakashi were throwing compliments my way, the second half of the shoot was where I really got into a groove.

After posing within the fake mine shaft for a bit, I decided to do my next set of poses while sitting on the log. I did use the pickaxe for a couple of them, but I ditched it to simply focus on the lantern and myself. It seemed to work well for Kakashi and Mr. Tokage, who only encouraged me to keep the intensity on my face as I kept the lantern close.

When I was finally free to return to the others, Temari was already walking toward me, knowing that she was going to be the next one called up anyway. She simply nodded in my direction before passing me, her expression unreadable as she continued on her way. I thought that she may have heeded my warning, but seeing Naruto's curious face in the waiting area made me unsure almost immediately.

"Hey Gaara, can I talk to you for a quick second?"

Curious, I followed him off to the side, the two of us making sure that we were clear of Ino and Kiba, who were too busy talking to each other to really take notice of us.

"Okay then, what exactly did you want to talk to me about Naruto?" I ask once we were across the room, completely separated from everybody else.

"Do you like my sister?"

"Aw shit. . ."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, speaking a little too quick for my liking.

"I mean, do you like Izuka as a friend, or do you like her, like her?" He asks, looking me straight in the eye. "Because your sister has been hinting at the latter from the moment you left to take your turn in front of the camera."

"Damn you Temari!"

"Temari's been hinting to you that I like Izuka?" I ask, keeping my tone slow and measured so that Naruto wouldn't suspect anything more than he already did.

"Well, she did mention that you had a dream about her . . ."

"Again, damn you Temari!"

"But that was all she was willing to say on the subject. She didn't give me any other details other than that."

"I see," I mumble. It was obvious now that my sister only half listened to what I said, but by simply mentioning to Naruto that I had indeed dreamed about his sister, she did enough to start getting the whiskered blonde suspicious of me.

Naruto didn't seem like someone that would be put off by someone that showed an interest in his sister that was on the . . . romantic level, but still, he and Izuka are siblings, twins, so I'm going to tread carefully just in case. "Do you believe her?"

"She seemed truthful enough, but I figured I would check with you just in case," He admits with a shrug. "So, is it true? Do you like Izuka?"

"Uh . . ." I found myself saying, my mind slowly going blank as I tried to think of something to say to him. I was lucky that the soot covered a good amount of my face because at this point, with my cheeks becoming so flush, I didn't know if I could survive him noticing how nervous I was getting. ". . . I, uh."

"You know what? You don't have to say anything,"

"Wha-?" I ask; his about face so sudden that I'm surprised that I didn't get whiplash. "What did you just say?"

"I said that you don't have to say anything," He repeated as he started walking away. "Your reaction was all the answer I needed."

"Oh great. . ."

"Really?" I ask, a little pissed at myself that my tone sounded so weak to my ears.

"Really . . . I won't bother you on this topic anymore," he tells me, speaking over his shoulder. ". . . Good luck! I'm sure things will work out for you guys!"

"I hope so . . ." I say, not realizing what I said until it was already out of my mouth. Looking up, Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, having obviously heard what I just said, before he turned back around and moved toward the waiting area, leaving me to deal with the aftermath by myself.

"Well, I think I just got Naruto's support," I say to myself as I start making my way to the staircase. ". . . I mean, I think I did. . . Maybe."

A/N: Please review!