Last night had been awkward, after talking with Sakura he had excused himself from Gaara's presence and gone for a run, needing to clear up his head. He had found himself by his old training ground, remembering how he used to train all day in order to be a great detective.
There had been so many sweat and tears, so many sleepless nights and yet here he was. "You can either keep crying and acting like a stupid loser...or you can get yourself together and move on...what will you do, moron?" He asked himself, punching one of the logs, then kept punching and kicking it.
The blonde let out all of his frustration on it, he was Naruto Uzumaki, he wasn't a quitter and he wasn't a downer! Why was he pouting around like some silly child who wasn't getting it's way? Hadn't he promised Sasuke that he'd take care of Sakura and Sarada?He had sworn that he would keep them happy and watch over them, that he wouldn't let them be sad yet here he was making Sakura worry.
"Two guys aren't meant to be together, Naruto." The blonde knew that, he had learned that with Sasuke yet here he was again, except this time he was the one acting like a jerk. Why was he doubting if the redhead liked him? Gaara wasn't the type to lie, at least he didn't think so.
He needed to control that temper of his, it had been a big flaw when he was younger. Once he let out some steam, he looked down at his now bloody knuckles, heading toward the pharmacy to get some bandages and alcohol, trying to think what story he would come up with. In every corner of this island he could see hints of his childhood, of Sasuke and how their lives had intertwined. Here, more than ever the blonde felt like he was being haunted by his best friend, it was why he had decided to leave a year after the accident.
He put on one of his bright smiles when he saw the pharmacist, greeting the person and paying for the bandage and small bottle of alcohol. Once out, he sat down on a bench and cleaned up his bloody knuckle then awkwardly bandaged it, the job wasn't done too well but it would have to do for now. His prosthetic hand was in no better shape, bruised up and with some cuts, Sakura would probably scold him for it.
When he arrived at Sakura's flat, he tried to enter as quietly as possible, wondering if Gaara had gone to bed.
"Naruto-kun?" The familiar deep voice asked.
The blonde jumped slightly, turning to look to the living room where the redhead was, next to the balcony door. "O-Oh, Gaara-kun. Sorry, I didn't see you there." He sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his neck. The tanned male felt a wave of guilt hit him when he saw the worried look in the jade eyes.
"What happened to your arms?" The voice sounded calm enough but Naruto knew better.
For a moment the blonde thought about lying, saying something like his hand got caught in a door or that he fell but decided to go for the semi-truth. "I am fine! I saw my old training ground...and it brought back some nostalgic feelings, next thing I knew I was training that's why I came back so late. I am sorry for worrying you."
Gaara walked toward his partner, grabbing both injured hands, checking the damage. Some of the skin from the prosthetic hand had come off, the bandaged that had been wrapped in the other hand was red with blood. The redhead stared at the blood 'Remember how much fun we used to have together? All the blood we spilled as a team? Don't you want to keep having fun, brat?' The familiar sinister voice teased the redhead, for a moment Gaara saw the large racoon monster grinning at him, claw hands coming to grab his face.
"...Gaara-kun?" Naruto asked worriedly "What's wrong?"
The redhead ignored the large racoon that was grinning at him "I'll clean up your wound, sit down."
The blonde gave another worried look but nodded, the redhead led Naruto toward the bathroom and sat him down on the toilet. He grabbed the bottle of alcohol, taking off the now bloody bandage then checked the damage.
Gaara tried to control his bloodlust, hearing the large racoon giggle and taunt him. He worked quietly, checking the wounds then grabbed the bandage and wrapped it carefully, the way that his uncle had taught him. When it was properly tied he went toward the prosthetic hand, his thumb gently brushing one of the cuts. Gaara bandaged the prosthetic hand as well then looked up at the blonde who had remained quiet through the process. He was met with a warm yet sad look directed at him, feeling his smaller hands get squeezed.
"Thank you, Gaara-kun." Naruto warmly said, bending down to press their forehead against each other "I am really glad you are in my life." He gave the smaller hands another squeeze before moving to stand up, testing his prosthetic hand, everything seemed to be working well. For a moment the blonde was tempted to ask the redhead if he was secretly a medic...or at least had some experience. He wanted to know more about Gaara, the redhead was a massive mystery to him.
"I am really glad you are in my life as well." Gaara murmured, the two sharing a smile.
After that Naruto dragged Gaara to bed, pressing their body against each other, resting his head on the smaller chest and dozing off to the sound of his partner's heartbeat.
The next day, Sakura acted as if nothing happened between them. She smiled brightly and greeted them for breakfast "Goodmorning, sleepyhead!" She moved to hug Naruto and kiss his cheek then bowed politely to Gaara and ushered them to eat.
Sarada smiled brightly at both of them "Good morning, Naruto-san, Gaara-san." She politely greeted, eating her omelette which had a smiling face drawn on it.
"Morning, Sarada-chan! Did you sleep well?"Naruto asked, grabbing the milky coffee that Sakura passed to him "Sakura-chan...have I told you how much I love you?"
The pinkette laughed, passing a mug of black coffee to the redhead "Since we were 5." She replied amused "Finish eating up and then we'll go to...what happened to your arms?!"
The blonde gulped, looking at Gaara with a pleading look but the redhead remained quiet, listening to Sarada talking about a book and some theory.
"...Ano...wait, before you get angry, listen, alright?" He begged, seeing Sakura glare at him "Soooo funny story...one moment I am walking and minding my business...the next I am back at our old training ground and just so happen to train a bit...just a bit! It's a scratch, right Gaara-kun?"
"...Hm…" The redhead already knew better than to get between those two. He wondered if that was how siblings were meant to act, his relationship with his brother and sister was vastly different.
"Gaara-kun, you are sup-" Naruto squeaked when Sakura slammed her hand down on the table, cracking it "CHA, Naruto you baka! You are lucky that we are going to the hospital today anyways!" She snapped, grabbing his hand forcefully "...At Least your bandages are done properly, tch."
"Gaara-kun helped me." Naruto replied, sighing in relief when the pinkette pulled away and sat down to eat.
"Hurry up and eat you idiot! You are lucky I don't break your arms myself!" She growled out before switching back and smiling sweetly at Sarada and Gaara "Sarada-chan, make sure to take your time...and remember to take your lunch with you." She sweetly said "Gaara-san, please enjoy your breakfast, let me know if you'd like more coffee or anything else."
Sarada quickly finished eating and put her plate on the dishwasher then bowed politely "Thank you very much, I am off! See you tonight."
"See you tonight, be safe." Naruto and Sakura said at the same time, the pinkette leading her daughter out the door and kissing her forehead.
After they ate breakfast and drank their coffee, they headed to the hospital. Naruto kept getting stopped by people on the street, they hugged him and happily greeted him. It seemed that the blonde knew everyone and was friends with them, vastly different from when he had been younger and he had been shunned.
Once at the hospital Naruto and Gaara were led to a private room that had different machines. Sakura checked the blonde's heartbeat, drew some blood and sent it to the lab then checked his weight and height "I can't believe you are already 6ft...I still remember when you were shorter than me." She teased.
When she saw the bruises on Naruto's arm, she glared at him, she cleaned the wound once more and changed the bandage, then looked at his prosthetic hand and sighed.
"You have to be more careful with this...luckily it's something that is easy to fix. Oh right...make sure to go and talk to Shika, alright?" Sakura said, standing up "...And he is still in the same room...if you'd like to say hi." With that the pinkette excused herself, needing to get ready for a surgery.
Naruto hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek then headed toward his specialized doctor to fix his prosthetic. Adding the layer of skin to his prosthetic hadn't taken that much time, Naruto chatting happily to the doctor.
When that was done, Naruto looked at Gaara then sighed "Errmm...this next task might take a bit of time, there is a cafeteria if you'd like to wait." So far the redhead has remained by his side quietly but the talk he needed to have with his therapist...well it was a bit complicated.
"I'll stay close by." Gaara calmly replied, tilting his head slightly when he read the name on the door which soon opened.
"-Promise I'll tell him when the time comes, but you know how scary my bro-" A beautiful blonde woman with hair in 4 pigtails froze up and stared at the redhead in shock.
"Temari?" A lazy voice asked, coming into view and cringing when he saw Gaara.
"Huh….what's wrong?" Naruto asked, confused by what was going on. He saw the way that Gaara stared at the beautiful woman and at the brunette behind her.
"G-G-G-Gaara...what are you doing here?" Temari asked, looking at her brother and then at the brunette behind her.
"...What a drag…" The brunette sighed out.
"Huh...you know her, Gaara-kun?" Naruto asked, staring at Temari and then at Gaara, they looked kinda similar.
"...She's my older sister." The redhead responded, looking the brunette up and down.
"Y-YOUR SISTER?!" Naruto shouted in surprise then covered his mouth, staring at his partner and then at the beautiful woman. Naruto was quick to bow deeply and smiled brightly "Hello I am Uzumaki Naruto and I am Gaara-kun….Gaara-kun…" Wait, what was he supposed to say?
"Precious person." Gaara said bluntly "Who is that, Temari?"
The blonde woman stared in shock at her little brother and Naruto, since when did Gaara care about anyone except himself?! "...Precious person?"She asked, shocked, then glanced at the brunette who looked bored.
"Neh Shikamaru...how come you are with Gaara's sister?" Naruto asked, cheeks bright red. He was Gaara's precious person...his precious person!
"...Temari?" Shikamaru asked, running a hand through his hair "You care to explain or should I?"
Temari hesitated, looking a bit pale "...Shikamaru is my...he's my…"
Gaara looked between Temari and Shikamaru "Hm." Was all he said, walking away.
"G-Gaara?" Temari called out, giving Shikamaru a regretful look before running off after her younger brother.
"...I don't get it…" The tanned male said, hearing his friend sigh once more.
"You comin' or what, Naruto?" Shikamaru lazily asked.
Naruto nodded, locking the door behind him and moving to sit down on the couch. He watched the brunette lit a cigarette and opened one of the windows then took a lazy drag.
"Sakura said that you've been having mood swings again...I am guessing you'd like to chat." Was all the lazy brunette said.
Naruto hesitated, staring down at his hands, he's always hated talking about his feelings.
"Or we can both just be quiet, don't matter to me." Shikamaru said with a shrug.
The blonde stayed quiet for a minute or two, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly "I feel like I am betraying Sasuke by being with Gaara-kun. I mean...it's my fault he's in a coma and that he's not here right now."
"You did not cause the accident, Naruto." Shikamaru calmly said, taking another deep drag, watching the people running around, living their life.
"But I did! If we hadn't been arguing he might have still been here!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Maybe...or maybe not. It's not a fact, is it?" Shikamaru asked, turning to glance at his friend. "Tell me about Gaara."
The blonde blushed brightly when he thought about the redhead, about those warm jaded eyes and the gentle look that his partner would reserve just for him. "He's a really kind person...he makes me feel at peace but…" Naruto hesitated, for a moment seeing a familiar sinister form.
"But?" The brunette edged on.
"...He'll leave too, won't he? Two guys aren't meant to be together...it's not right." It had taken a long time for Naruto to open up to Shikamaru like this, after the accident the blonde had been a wreck.
"Why isn't it right?" Shikamaru finished his cigarette, moving to sit across from the blonde.
"...Well guys are meant to be with girls and create family...right?" The blonde asked, remembering Sasuke's words, his chest aching.
"Says who?" Shikamaru asked, listening quietly.
"...Says...you know who. It's not right...what if Gaara-kun decides that it's not right? What if I hurt him as well and he ends up in a coma or dead? What if I hurt someone else, Shika?" The blonde felt his hands tremble, he could hear the horns and see those dark eyes staring at him.
"Are the hallucinations back, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, seeing the glazed look on the blonde's eyes.
"Everyone that gets close to me ends up getting hurt...what if I hurt Gaara-kun as well?" Naruto asked, those dark eyes turning a jade color and the dark hair turning crimson "I don't want to lose him too...I can't lose him too, Shikamaru!"
"Naruto, have I gotten hurt by being with you?" Shikamaru asked, standing up and moving closer to the blonde "Have you been taking your meds?"
The blonde went quiet, all he could hear was the horns and all he could smell was blood mixed with gasoline and something burning. He was shaking from head to toe.
"Naruto!"The blonde snapped out of his memories and stared at Shikamaru in shock "You were having a flashback again...I need you to take your medications again, how long has it been since you've done that?"
Naruto looked down at his hands, taking in deep breath before exhaling "...I don't like the side effect...besides what if Gaara wants to...you know...the medication used to take away my desire for that and always made me feel dizzy."
"We'll keep trying different types of medication until we find one that works for you...I think it might do you some good to start therapy again, we can do it through video chat if you'd like." Shikamaru watched the blonde and sighed "Sakura is worried about you...and honestly so am I. You looked happy when I saw the two of you just now...and I really do hope that you can move on from what happened. I am speaking right now as your friend and not your therapist. The accident wasn't your fault Naruto and the more you torture yourself the more you'll torture those that care about you."
Naruto ran a hand through his blonde hair, thinking about the redhead, thinking about Sasuke and so many other things. "I don't want to keep being a burden." The blonde softly admitted, biting his bottom lip.
"You aren't...you are one of the strongest people I've ever met. Accepting help isn't being a burden and right now you need help." Shikamaru softly said.
Naruto looked at his friend/ therapist than sighed "I understand." He didn't want to decline...not after coming so far.