Beta-read by V-chan! Wee! Thank you!

No flashback for the next two chapters. This is all from Gaara's side now. Kinda' … oh you know what I mean.

Enjoy!

THE CHILD IN ME 3

He knocked on the door, because he knew the person he was expecting to answer would be awake. Sure enough, light footsteps approached the door and it opened with a thatch of messy red hair obscuring his view, green eyes looking up at him.

"Iruka there?" Kakashi asked, a look of boredom on his masked face.

Gaara held a finger to his lips, telling him to keep his voice down as he left the door and disappeared into the living room. Kakashi followed in, curious at the boy's behavior and found him sitting beside the once dented couch, a book on his lap. Kakashi found the sight of Gaara sitting beside a sleeping Iruka and reading a bit too cute for his standards. He was beginning to see why Iruka was growing 'fond' or 'defensive' of the boy. He had the tendency to just look 'cute' even when he was trying to look indifferent and unperturbed by anything living.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto?"

"Sleeping."

"And you?"

"Reading."

"I can see that." Kakashi said, nodding towards the book. Gaara's eyes hardened a bit, narrowing at Kakashi, a frown creasing his brows. "So what exactly are you doing here?"

"Naruto invited me over."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow. Gaara was now scowling at him, that hard edge back, the gaze seemingly not strange to him, because he saw it in Naruto as well. No reply came this time, and scowl got even darker. "Well, just checking up on them."

Kakashi turned to leave, and was very well aware of the eyes boring into his back.

XXX

Naruto woke up the next morning and found Gaara reading a book, beside a sleeping Iruka on his couch. Gaara looked up, a sad and angry look on his face wiped off at the sight of him. He raised a finger to his lips, signaling Naruto to keep his mouth shut. Naruto peeked at Iruka, who was really out of it because he was actually snoring lightly, and smirked.

Without another word, he motioned for Gaara to follow him to the kitchen so that they could prepare breakfast for their sleeping guest.

"We should make ramen!" Naruto said.

"There's nothing else anyway." Gaara pointed out.

Naruto promptly ignored what the redhead said, opting to stick his tongue out at the boy instead while he took some ramen packets from the cupboard. Gaara set the kettle to boil, taking out a new cup to prepare some tea.

"Hey, Gaara?" Naruto asked, chucking the contents of the ramen packet into the small pan on the burner. "Stay a while will ya'? Don't go back yet." Gaara gave him a shrug in reply and pulled out a stool to sit. Naruto did the same and folded his arms on the kitchen counter, propping his chin on them. "It's nice to have someone around." Gaara nodded. "So you'll stay?" Gaara shrugged then nodded again. "Good! Hey, let's play cards!"

"Okay."

XXX

Iruka sniffed and woke up. He blinked at the sudden brightness that greeted him and rubbed a sleepy eye, groaning as his back suddenly protested when he sat up. His entire shoulder was numb from the position he was in. He sniffed again and cringed a bit, the smell of something burning tickling his nose.

Burning. Kitchen! Kids!

Iruka was on his feet, making his way to the kitchen, legs still a tangle of muscles from sleep, when he found Naruto fanning a pan that had caught fire, a deck of scattered cards on the counter.

"Naruto! Don't do that, it'll get bigger!" Iruka snapped, causing Naruto to jump back, just as the flames grew bigger. "Stifle it! Stifle it!"

Gaara grabbed some sand from the living room from his gourd and chucked it at the pan, the whole cooking range now smelling awful from sand and flames. The smell of gas began to fill the kitchen and Iruka quickly rushed forward and turned the knob of the cooking range to its 'closed' mode, preventing any more gas from filling the room. He turned the exhaust fan on and pushed the kitchen window open.

"What were the both of you thinking?" He snapped. "You could have burned the whole place down!" He roared, voice suddenly amplified.

"But Iruka-sensei –" Naruto whined.

"No buts! Now go and take a shower because you reek of gas and burned ramen! Ramen! How on earth can you burn ramen? And why was neither of you keeping an eye on the burner? Hmm?"

"But Iruka-sensei –"

"Not another word!" Iruka snapped, pointing at the door. "Shower! Now!"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." Naruto mumbled and scooted for the bathroom.

"Gaara, why –" Iruka stopped short when he saw the boy stepping back and pressed up against the mini-fridge, eyes wide and staring at him with shock, hurt and some form of betrayal. He blinked for a while, all rage forgotten as he approached the boy, who took a step back from him. "Gaara, don't be –"

"Liar!" Gaara suddenly glared. "You don't like me! You're all the same!"

This time, his confused blinking was very slow. "W-What?"

"Liar!" Gaara snapped, the sand snaking from the living room towards the kitchen.

"Gaara, it's called a lecture. It's something I tend to do, when I get too worried." The sand stopped at Gaara's feet, remaining still. "I was just worried. I didn't meant to scare you." He said gently.

"I'm not afraid!" Gaara hissed.

Iruka merely smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. Surprisingly, Gaara let him and the sand retreated back to the living room. "Next time, when cooking something, for your own safety, and those around you, keep an eye on the burner, okay?"

Gaara nodded. "Okay."

"You better take a shower too."

"Okay."

XXX

It was the weekend, so Iruka decided to invite the two boys to his place for dinner. He was glad for the day off, because then it meant he had more time to actually relax and pamper Naruto a bit. With Gaara around as well, that left him with two boys to pamper.

He placed the last dish on the table and wiped his hands at the plain white apron he was wearing. The boys were in his spare room, playing some of his old board games. Even as a chuunin, Naruto still had a child's heart, and Gaara, being with Naruto, was slowly discovering his as well. He placed the apron on the hook behind the kitchen door and approached the room the two were in. Knocking twice, he opened the door and stuck his head in. He found Naruto lying on his stomach, staring at the chess board game. Gaara already had his black pieces set in five forms of checkmate, and there was absolutely no way Naruto could win. Gaara was sitting cross-legged, staring at the wooden surfaces of the board, waiting for Naruto to move a piece so that he could claim his king. Smiling at the sight, Iruka interrupted them, knowing that Naruto would get into a row if he lost.

Again.

"Dinner is ready!" He said.

Naruto was up on his feet and dashing for the bathroom to wash his hands, a happy cry of delight escaping his mouth. "Iruka-sensei's cooking! Iruka-sensei's cooking! Yay! I'm hungry!"

Iruka shook his head as the tap of the bathroom sink was turned on. "Gaara?" He called, waiting for the boy to stand. Gaara left the board as it was, standing up and walking slowly towards the door, before looking up at Iruka, waiting. "Come on. Wash your hands and come to the table."

A few minutes later, all three were seated at the table, while Iruka scooped some rice into their bowls. Gaara was staring at his soup, as steam wafted up in the air.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei! Itadaikimasu!" Naruto clapped once and tucked in to his beef misono and rice, chomping away. It never failed to amuse Iruka how Naruto was so lively when eating. It was just one of those things that made the boy innocent, even with the difficult life he led as a shinobi.

Gaara was hesitant, but after staring at his food, he picked up his chopsticks and started to nibble on his rice. Pleased, Iruka tucked into his own meal. Minutes passed with Naruto chatting away, telling a full recount of the Chuunin exam to Iruka and Gaara, with Gaara just looking at him oddly, chewing on his food. Naruto would stop mid-story, grab his glass of red iced tea, take a long drink then resume his story with more energy and even louder than before. Iruka didn't mind it one bit. In fact, it was nice to have lively noise in his home once in a while.

"So, so, this grass-dude wanted to beat the living lights outta' Sakura-chan, but I –" Naruto stopped when a series of sharp knocks on Iruka's door sounded. Naruto frowned, Gaara stopped eating and Iruka stared at his front door.

"I'll get it. You two continue with your dinner." Iruka set his napkin on the table and stood up, marching towards the door. He pulled it open and stared at the person outside.

"Naruto with you?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes."

"Gaara?"

"They're both eating." Iruka said, stepping outside and slightly closing the door behind him. "What is it?"

"Just checking."

"Really." Iruka said, frowning. Both stared at each other quietly. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't find Naruto."

"Really."

"Really." Kakashi closed his eye briefly and then resumed staring at Iruka. "I stopped by last night at Naruto's place. You were asleep on the couch."

For some strange reason, Iruka felt his cheeks heat up at the statement. "I was dropping off books."

Kakashi stared at the ground for a second. "Look, can you just be careful around him?"

Iruka narrowed his eyes, but the genuine look of worry his senior was giving him somewhat covered his annoyance. The worry was uncalled for, but just to humor him, he nodded. "All right. I will." Kakashi gave an affirmative nod and turned to walk away. His politeness kicked in and the words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Kakashi, we're having misono. Would you like to join us?"

Kakashi turned to look at him, smirking under the mask. "Can I take a rain check?"

Iruka shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Good." Kakashi continued down the hall, raising his hand in a casual form of saying good-bye. "Later."

Iruka rolled his eyes in amusement and joined the two boys at the table once again.

XXX

"Thanks for the meal Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, smiling up at him, hands folded behind his head, one leg poised on the steps of the stairwell that led to his apartment. "Though, you didn't really have to walk us home, you know? I'm sure we could have managed not to get lost."

Iruka laughed heartily. "Nah! I need the fresh air anyway." He then pointed to both boys. "Don't forget to brush your teeth."

"I won't! Good night, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, and jumped to give Iruka a big loving hug, nuzzled his cheek fondly with his nose and dropped back to the ground, all the while Iruka laughed. He then raced up the steps. "Last one to the door is a rotten egg!"

Gaara stared up at Naruto's figure disappearing as he ascended the steps, and then turned his attention to Iruka, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. "Don't forget your teeth! You had ice cream for dessert. Although you can't really sleep, that is no excuse to ignore your dental health!" Gaara stilled stared at him in that way, cheeks coloring some more. "If you run out of books, do tell me. Or you can borrow some of the movies I have and watch it. I'm sure Naruto's VCR is still working." The blush deepened. "Okay?"

Gaara nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Off you go. You'll get endless teasing from Naruto about being a rotten egg." Iruka chuckled and still Gaara didn't budge from his standing position. Iruka looked down at him with puzzlement, blinking. "Gaara?"

Gaara looked sideways, then swallowed. "Can I do what Naruto does?"

"Naruto does a lot of things." Iruka rubbed the back of his head. "Which one do you mean?"

"The – The thing he did just now." Gaara asked, looking suddenly very shy.

Iruka quirked an eyebrow. "Of course you can. Here." Iruka spread his arms out and waited for Gaara to jump up to him, yet nothing happened. Iruka stood there, arms apart, while Gaara stared up at him, not quite sure what to do. Iruka sighed, dropped his arms down and smiled at Gaara. "You're supposed to jump and hug."

"Hug?"

Iruka could feel his insides tighten. A simple one-worded question; yet it held a thousand meanings. "You uh – well, you jump up and do what Naruto did. You saw what he did right?" Gaara nodded in reply. "Well, let's try this one more time. Don't be shy. Just jump and I'll catch you okay?" Gaara nodded again. "Okay, ready? Go!" Iruka spread his arms up and waited for Gaara to jump. Gaara didn't move and still continued to look up at Iruka with puzzled and wide eyes, the blush still present. Iruka could feel the twitch in his left eye.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled from the top of the stairwell. "What's taking you so long?" He directed towards Gaara.

"Naruto, come down here for a while." Iruka said, and Naruto followed, in his house shorts and t-shirt, barefooted. "Uh, I'm teaching Gaara how to hug. Your style."

"My style?" Naruto blinked and stared at Gaara, who was looking really, really shy. Not the 'killer' he once knew him as. Naruto then grinned. "Oh! Okay! It's simple, first, you sneak around Iruka-sensei, when he's not looking." Naruto stood beside Iruka. "Then, with precise movement and just the right force, you jump on to him, wrap your arms around his neck, arm, waist or chest and just hug!" Gaara blinked in reply. "Watch this." Naruto took a few steps back and then jumped on Iruka, wrapping his arms around Iruka's shoulders, knees going around his waist from his side, pressing his cheek on Iruka's shoulder blade. "Wee! Iruka-sensei!" Iruka laughed at Naruto's action. Naruto dropped on to the ground and motioned for Gaara to follow his example. "You try it."

"People will see." Gaara mumbled.

Naruto shrugged. "So what? I do it all the time. Nobody says anything. Go on! Go on! It's not that hard. Give it a try!"

Gaara looked up at Iruka once more, big green eyes shimmering under the streetlights. Iruka grinned. "Go ahead."

Gaara swallowed and took a step back. Following Naruto's example, he sprinted forward and jumped, wrapped his arms around Iruka's neck, his ankles snaking over one thigh for support. Iruka laughed fondly, as an arm came around his back to support him.

"That wasn't that hard, right?" Iruka said, chuckling and smoothing Gaara's red hair with his other hand. Naruto was giggling before he too jumped on Iruka's back, nuzzling his cheek on his shoulder. "Isn't this nice?" Iruka said, holding both boys.

"It feels like a family!" Naruto giggled and fell quiet just holding on to Iruka, while Iruka tilted his head to nuzzle on Naruto's.

"What do you think Gaara?" Iruka asked.

Gaara buried his face in the crook of Iruka neck, arms tightening around him, not wanting to let go. "It's so warm." Iruka smiled and began to walk up the stairs, both boys latched on to him as if he were a life support. As he pushed the ajar door of Naruto's apartment open, Gaara whispered lightly in to his ear. "I like it."

TBC

I just re-read what I wrote. I am SUCH a SAPPY person. That is just dripping with FLUFF!