I FINALLY typed this! YESH!

Enjoy!

THE CHILD IN ME 9

Gaara slumped forward with his face buried in his hands, his forehead nearly touching his knee caps. Iruka had been shocked, surprised and for that brief second, every instinct he had on handling a crying child fled him. It was when he heard footsteps coming down the hall did he snap from his stunned reverie and grabbed Gaara by the shoulder, shaking him. The restless sand wrapped itself around Iruka's wrists and forearms, squeezing.

"Gaara! Gaara!" Iruka shook him, despite the strong hold of the sand on his arms. "Get a hold of yourself. Gaara!"

"I'm fine." Gaara bawled. The sand that wrapped itself on Iruka's forearms dropped to the ground lifelessly, leaving red scratch marks on Iruka's arm.

Iruka stared at the red rimmed eyes and the large tears welling at the corners and trickling down the now flushed cheeks. "It's okay. It's okay." Iruka consoled him, just as the door burst open with Kakashi standing in the doorway, ready to eliminate whatever threat that must be present. Before the Copy-nin could even take one step in to the room, Iruka turned and snapped. "Not one more step, Hatake!"

Kakashi stiffened, his eyes falling on Iruka's forearms, while Gaara continued to sob and struggle to breathe through his now clogged nose. "You're hurt –"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto peered through the doorway between Kakashi's hips and the doorframe. "What's –"

"Naruto, take your instructor away from here and close the door." Iruka barked.

"Right away." Naruto managed to latch himself on to Kakashi and tug at the older man's hair. Kakashi saw the look of murder on Iruka's face and just so he can humor the boy as well, left and closed the door.

Gaara continued to cry and as soon as the room was bathed in darkness, Iruka pulled the boy close to him and started smoothing the unruly red locks. "It's all right. It's all right." Iruka repeated those words until the boy in his arms somewhat began to calm down, the shaky and hysterical sobs now reduced to quiet sniffles. Gaara remained unmoving in his hunched position between Iruka's arms, staring at the ground while the tears slowly stopped falling. Iruka did not know how long time passed, but he could hear Naruto 'pacifying' Kakashi outside in the living room in his usual loud way.

"Iruka-sensei is going to kill you!" Naruto warned.

"If you just sit there quietly, the only person who's going to be dead around here is Iruka-sensei himself!" Kakashi replied. The voice was low, but Iruka had good hearing.

The Chuunin kept his reaction inside and continued stroking Gaara's hair instead. Gaara remained quiet and still, eyes closing while his flushed cheeks remains pressed against Iruka's abdomen. Iruka gathered the boy in to his arms and moved him to the bed, pulling the covers over the quiet boy. "I know you don't sleep. But lie down. You cried hard. I'll fix you warm milk later." Iruka whispered, continuing his soft strokes on the boy's red hair.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." Gaara answered, wrinkling his clogged nose and sniffing with his fist. "I'm sorry."

Iruka peered at his face. "What for?"

"For bothering you." Gaara looked away, the closed his eyes. "Are you angry at me?"

Iruka blinked. "You're not bothering me, Gaara."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I ruined the book. Please don't be mad at me." Gaara said quietly, too 'ashamed' to look at Iruka.

Iruka stared quietly at the boy then pulled him close and planted a kiss on the smooth forehead. "I'm not mad at you. You have done nothing. Don't worry. I'm with you, aren't I?"

"But I hurt you." Gaara said, looking at Iruka's forearms.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing. I just want you to be all right. Don't cry anymore okay?" Iruka tilted Gaara's chin up and smiled down at the boy. "Can you do that?"

Gaara gave him that look again - the lost and dawning surprise that someone cares. "Yes, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka patted his head. "Would you like me to stay with you for a while?" Gaara gave him a small and shy nod from under the blankets. "All right."

XXX

By the time Iruka left Gaara's room, it was already eleven-twenty in the evening. The blood from the broken skin on both his forearms were already dried. When he stepped out of the room, a wave of tensed silence engulfed him. Naruto's bedroom was slightly ajar. A small peek told Iruka that the boy had fallen asleep. A tired sigh escaped the Chuunin's lips while he brought his hand up to undo his tight topknot. Iruka's senses told him that the Jounin was still present. As the mere realization crossed Iruka's mind, his line of vision burned red. Simultaneously, the Chuunin's eyes darkened and his muscles tensed. Anger, betrayal and a deep sense of having been toyed with filled him. It all summed up to one intense emotion that left a twisting feeling in its wake within Iruka's chest.

As Iruka made his way to the living room with his footsteps silent yet rigid, Kakashi chose that time to make himself visible. In the Jounin's hand was a first aid kid, waiting for Iruka's use. Kakashi opened his mouth to speak; Iruka took the box off Kakashi's hand before the Jounin could complete his sentence and made his way to the kitchen. Words waiting to be spat out were already at the tip of the Chuunin's tongue. While Iruka pulled his shirt off, Kakashi remained still and quiet from across the kitchen table. Iruka knew he was flushed red due to his rising temper along with his exerting control to keep the said temper at bay. His fingers trembled as he cleaned the scratch marks on his forearms with an alcohol swab, a set of his upper teeth revealing as it clamped down on his lower lip.

"Need help?" Kakashi asked, clearly seeing that Iruka was having a bit of a hard time removing the traces of salt from Gaara's sand with the cotton swab he was using.

"No." Iruka said quietly, managing to finish cleaning his left forearm. If Kakashi was offended by the cold turn-down of his help, the Jounin did not show it. Brown eyes searched the first aid box for the herbal balm commonly used for minor cuts. Iruka reached for the small container within the box and attempted to unscrew the lid with just one hand. Because of his shaking fingers, the container fell and rolled across the linoleum floor, some of the goopy mixture managing to come out. "Shit." Iruka cursed and made an attempt to grab the fallen container but Kakashi beat him to it. The Jounin pulled his gloves up, intending to help Iruka. Iruka only realized Kakashi's intentions when the Jounin took hold of his elbow gently. "Don't touch me!" Iruka snapped, jerking his arm away from Kakashi's touch. "I can take care of my –" Iruka then snatched the container of medicine out of Kakashi's hands and slammed it down the kitchen table. "- self!"

Kakashi was stunned at the violent outburst. Not because of the outburst itself, but because of the vicious and venom-dripping tone that Iruka used. "If you say –"

"I didn't ask!" Iruka hissed, slamming his palm down on the table, causing the medicine container to rattle and first aid box to jerk from the force. "I didn't fucking ask! Not your help! And most certainly not your protection! What is the matter with you?" Iruka demanded.

"What's the matter with you?" Kakashi quietly said back, his own temper beginning to stir.

"You!" Iruka said, banging both his fists down the table that it was quite surprising the wood didn't give way from the force. "You! You're the problem! I don't know how to deal with your constant unfeeling and inconsiderate behavior!"

"Iruka-sensei, you could have gained more serious damage –"

"The only thing that's damaged around here is your brain, you fuck!" Iruka snapped, voice rising.

Kakashi was mindful of the rising voice. "This is not the best time to discuss my behavior."

"This is a perfect time!" Iruka lashed. "First, you come to me, apologizing and asking for forgiveness! Forgiveness that I gave because I actually believed that your words were sincere! I spent time with you! I began to like you!" Kakashi stared quietly at Iruka. "And – And this! This is the reason you try to get on my good side? You deceived me just so that you can keep an eye on that child! How – How could you? How dare you?"

"That was not my intention." Kakashi replied, eyes glinting with an emotion that Iruka could not decipher.

This time, the table cracked under the pressure of Iruka's fist. "You have no right!" Iruka dipped his head, gritting his teeth and sucking in deep breaths. Kakashi was rigidly still, too quiet. Too stealthy. "You had no right, Kakashi. No right at all. To say those words. To tell me what to do or how to behave." Iruka said quietly. "I am not your property and I am not under your command or your debt. I do not have any links with you. Your insecurity towards Gaara, I can ignore and deal with somehow. But what I will not tolerate," Iruka looked up to look at Kakashi coldly, face suddenly emotionless. "Are my feelings being toyed by the likes of you."

Kakashi parted his lips, taken aback completely by Iruka's words. It was not what he expected from the Chuunin. He saw the outburst and anger coming, but not these words. "Iruka-sensei –"

"Leave. I don't ever want to see you again." Iruka said, turning his gaze away from the Jounin like he was disgusted and just pained to even spare him another glance.

Kakashi closed his eyes and stepped back. He didn't know what else he could say or what else he could do to fix things. "Good night." He whispered and in a whisp of chakra smoke, he was gone.

Iruka leaned against the kitchen wall, wrapping his arms around himself.

XXX

Gaara was lying on his side, a hand thrown over his head while he stared at the window. He heard every word that were exchanged by the two elder men outside and for some reason, he believed that it was his fault. Iruka and Kakashi never fought with so much tension and hostility in the air. Gaara trembled at Iruka's angry tone. He felt sad for Kakashi's departure even though the elder man wasn't all that 'nice' to him.

Gaara pushed himself off the bed and padded for the door. He quietly peered down the hallway and headed for the kitchen. He found Iruka staring quietly at the floor.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka looked up, face looking distraught. Upon the sight of the red head, he smiled and stood up straight. "Ah, I forgot about your milk. I'll prepare it right now."

Gaara opened his mouth to protest but decided against it when Iruka took out the milk powder box form the top cabinet and placed the kettle on the burner. Gaara didn't want to see that distraught look on Iruka's face ever again.

"I'm going home." Gaara said.

Iruka nearly dropped the spoon he was holding when Gaara suddenly spoke. A few hissed curses escaped the Chuunin's lips as he wiped away the sugary mess on the counter. "What did you say Gaara?" He finally asked after quickly clearing the small mess.

"I'm going home tomorrow." Gaara repeated. For a few seconds, he met Iruka's stare head on. Then loneliness washed over Gaara and he was just forced to look at his own toes.

"But – you – " Iruka rubbed a temple, clearly not thinking very straight.

"I'm being asked to go home." Gaara said, hands fisting on the fabric of his shirt.

Iruka's temper seemed to be rising again. "By who?" Iruka began to distract himself by pouring water in to the milk powder and sugar mixture.

Gaara didn't reply right away until Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder, a mug of warm milk in his other hand. Gaara found himself answering the Chuunin's question. "My siblings back home." Iruka blinked once then nodded, ushering Gaara to the living room. Gaara sat himself on the couch – right on the dent that used to be there before he fixed it – while Iruka sat beside him, placing the warm milk between Gaara's pale hands. Iruka was being patient, letting Gaara say what he wanted at his own pace without rushing him. That was one thing about the Chuunin that no one could copy let alone gain easily. Gaara stared at the white creamy liquid in his mug. "I don't want to go back."

"I see." Iruka gently ruffled the thatch of red hair.

"But I have to go home." Gaara started thinking quickly, the words coming out of his mouth in low tones mirroring all his suppressed feelings and things that he never voiced out before. "I – I found friends here. Naruto, Iruka-sensei, Raidou-san and Genma-san. I think they're friends. Naruto says so." Gaara blinked, head tilting to one side a bit in thought. "I know everyone here doesn't really like me."

"Gaara –" Iruka interrupted.

"But that's okay." Gaara gave a small nod to himself. "I can understand. Naruto says he worked hard to have people acknowledge him and not be afraid of him anymore. Naruto and I are similar. Nobody really liked us, even when we were younger." Iruka, for once was speechless. Gaara turned green eyes up at Iruka, blazing with determination and an intense desire to fulfill what he wanted. "That's why, I'm going to do the same. When I go back home, I'll train and make people acknowledge me! Then maybe one day I can be Kazekage too. And then I can protect my village. And my friends." Gaara turned his gaze back to his mug. "And maybe, when I come back to visit Konoha, people won't hate me too."

Iruka felt a sudden admiration for the boy. He knew deep within him that Gaara was capable of many great things and this brief stay in Konoha would somehow guide him down a path that perhaps nobody ever showed him. At the same time, Iruka felt proud of Naruto for being able to change such a closed and antisocial boy to a very determined and soon to be great leader of a great village.

"You'll be great." Iruka smiled and this made Gaara look up at him with wide green eyes. "I know you will. I believe in your strength Gaara. You and Naruto would make legends that no one ever heard of." Iruka kissed the boy's forehead. "I'm so proud of you."

Gaara's eyes glowed with gratitude. "Really?"

Iruka nodded, chuckling. "Very proud of you. Do your best, Gaara."

Gaara turned to look back in to his warm milk, a very, very small smile on his lips. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. And I'm sorry."

Iruka blinked. "For what?"

"I didn't mean for Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei to fight. So, tomorrow, when I leave, will you two make up?" Gaara turned a hopeful gaze up at Iruka. "I don't want Iruka-sensei to be mad at anyone. Iruka-sensei is special. He should be happy."

"I was too loud wasn't I?" Iruka sighed. "Don't worry about it Gaara. It's just a small misunderstanding."

"Make up with him?" Gaara said.

Iruka stared down at the red head for a while. He then sighed. "Okay."

Gaara was not convinced. "Promise?"

Iruka nodded. "Promise."

Gaara nodded. He knew Iruka would keep his promise because good people like Iruka always did. He admired Iruka for his honesty and how he openly displayed his emotions. He admired Iruka for his patience and how he just wanted everyone to be safe and sound. If Gaara ever wished to have a real father (the one he previously had doesn't really count because of the treatment he got), he would have wanted him to be someone like Iruka. That flicker of pain in his chest appeared again, but this time it wasn't as intense as earlier. Because Gaara now had a goal to accomplish and keep working for.

"I'm going to miss Iruka-sensei." Gaara said, taking a long sip from his milk. "And his milk."

Iruka chuckled then laughed warmly as he wrapped arms around Gaara's thin frame. He began to tell Gaara little things about how he would make sure he makes him milk every night if he visited Konoha any time. Iruka spoke of many things like making dinner for him and Naruto, taking them out, maybe tagging them along in a seasonal festival – little things that Gaara would always look forward to.

By the time had Gaara finished his milk and pillowed his head on Iruka's stomach with Iruka's arms around his head, Naruto rose from his bed, yawning loudly and making his way to the couch.

"So boring." Naruto mumbled and dropped himself beside Iruka. Gaara blinked dark rimmed eyes at Naruto then dropped his head again on Iruka's stomach, Naruto following his example. Iruka wrapped one arm around Naruto then smiled at both boys. Naruto fell asleep in seconds, little snores escaping his throat. Gaara meditated in his lying position, eyes closed but fully aware of his surroundings.

"I'll miss you too, Gaara." Iruka whispered.

When the words did reach Gaara's mind, he looked up, only to find Iruka's head drooped and fast asleep.

XXX

"Ha?" Naruto gaped, watching Gaara fold the clean shirt he took out of the laundry hanger in the roof and place it in his bag. "You're leaving in the afternoon? Today?"

Gaara nodded. "Yes."

Naruto cast a look at the wall clock. The blonde actually looked rather saddened by Gaara's announcement. "But – but you can't leave in the afternoon!"

Gaara zipped his bag and stood up, looking at the blonde quietly. "If I leave in the afternoon, I'll reach the desert by early evening. I should reach Sand village before dawn."

"But why the afternoon?" Naruto was almost pouting.

Gaara blinked once. "So I don't get killed in the extreme heat of the day."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue some more but ended up huffing his cheeks in a stubborn manner. There was a brief conference being held in one of the many classrooms of the academy for the newly graduates. Naruto vaguely remembered something about strategic thinking and planning being explained on a wider use and basis by Morino Ibiki himself.

"Let's go out. Have fun. Eat." Naruto said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Aren't you supposed to be in that conference?" Gaara asked unblinking.

"We are supposed to be there." Naruto grinned. But it wasn't just any grin. Gaara knew that the particular grin on Naruto's face was the one that hid the current hurt he was feeling. But Gaara decided not to say anything nor even look at the problem, because he knew he would make both of them hurt. Naruto didn't want him to go back just like he himself didn't want to go. "But whatever. This is more important than some boring lecture. Besides, I can easily swindle baldy to lend me some of his scrolls."

Gaara doubted Naruto can. He thought about it briefly, then decided that indeed, he'd much rather prefer to spend the rest of the day with Naruto before he left rather than getting stuck in a stuffy and tight little classroom with one notorious Jounin. "Where are we going to eat?"

"We'll first buy you snacks. You know, the ones that you can't find in Sand? Like those yellow candies you like so much." Naruto started mentally calculating so as to come up with a rough estimate of how much they'll need. "Then maybe those rice crackers you like too. A bit of those dried mangoes, those sugared black cherries." As Naruto continued talking about what he was planning to buy Gaara as a goodbye present, Gaara couldn't help but blush a bit and feel all warm inside. "I think I'll need about two hundred ryos."

Gaara blinked. "But isn't that –"

Naruto grinned even wider. "No worries. I got two years of saving!" He rushed out of the room, dragging Gaara with him to his bedroom and pulled out a rather large and overflowing frog wallet. Naruto chucked the contents in to the bed, coins and wadded up bills spilling across the folded yellow blanket. "Okay, this is for your stuff. Then this is for our appetizer. We're having those breadsticks! The one that Iruka-sensei brought before? The one that's cheesy but gives you bad breath?"

Gaara blinked. "It had garlic. That's why."

"Yeah those." Naruto separated out his calculated money amount to one side. "Then this is for our main course. I was thinking of something really nice. Fried noodles, stir fry, shrimp sticks, barbeque and misono!"

Gaara blinked again. "It's a bit too much. It's going to –"

"Then you wrap it up and take it with you." Naruto busied his hands with counting and fixing the bills in to proper wads. "You're going to have to stop and eat something."

"But the sweets –"

Naruto turned to look at Gaara, a very reprimanding expression on his face. "Gaara! You're crossing a desert! You can't eat sweets. Hello? You'll need more nutritional foods. Protein! You can't afford to collapse in the middle. Sheesh. And here I thought you were smart. Really." Naruto shook his head and continued counting more money, still grumbling under his breath. Gaara knew that Naruto was just being considerate and worried for his well being. Gaara found himself smiling as he stared at his fingers. "And then for desert, we're having those fruity ice creams and that creamy puffy thing! That one that's all rolled up and tastes like apple and uh – something else."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Cinnamon rolls."

"Yep. Those." Naruto nodded. By the time the blonde had finished counting, a quarter of his two year savings was cleaned out. He placed the remaining savings in his frog wallet then stuffed his calculated amount in to his pocket. "So, let's go!"

"Okay." Gaara nodded and followed Naruto out the apartment complex and to the market food street to buy his 'farewell presents' as Naruto dubbed it.

As they moved from stall to stall, buying the sweets Naruto ticked off in his head, Gaara suddenly felt like he was six again. He felt, as time progressed through the day, that something was being taken away from his slowly. He had fun, too much fun, in all three coursed meals Naruto planned.

He really was going to miss Naruto.

XXX

Iruka was standing outside the conference room, where tired looking newly Chuunin graduates were piling out, rubbing their temples. It was no surprise why most of the rookies got headaches for it was Morino Ibiki who gave the lecture. As students disappeared down the hall, Iruka waited for Naruto and Gaara to appear. He began to worry when the last rookie left the room, all but dashing out of the Academy and Ibiki himself stepped out.

"Those boys of yours never showed up today." Ibiki said gruffly.

Iruka sighed. "I figured." Truth be told, Iruka wasn't expecting Gaara to come. Not after what the red head told him last night. "I'll warn him."

"Them." Ibiki corrected.

"No, Morino-san. Just him. Just Naruto. Gaara won't be in Konoha from tomorrow. He's being asked to return by his village."

Morino shook his head. "What a waste. That boy has great potential. He knows his abilities and how to utilize them fully. I was looking forward to train him some more. His intelligence could make good competition for Shikamaru. Just doesn't talk much."

Iruka felt glad to hear such praise for Gaara coming from Ibiki. "Really, Morino-san? That's very good to hear!"

"He knows how to think in battle. He'd make a good leader if only he can fix his communication skills." Morino shoved his fists in to his black coat pocket. "Well, pass my warning to Naruto that he'll have to stay extra hours in next week's conference to catch up. That boy has guts. I want to see him move forward in the ranks. He and Gaara could make a very good pair in the field."

"They'd be a good pair in almost anything, Morino-san." Iruka said. "I will pass your message to Naruto. Thank you for your time."

"Not at all." Ibiki waved and started walking down the hallway towards the lounge.

Iruka glanced at his watch that read three o'clock. Gaara told him earlier that he'd leave in the afternoon. Iruka knew that the boys should be back at Naruto's apartment. Iruka wasted no time and found himself racing through Konoha's residential roofs to Naruto's apartment complex. He saw the boys just entering the threshold when he rounded the corner of the stairwell.

"Ah! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said grinning, waving a hand that held three white printed paper bags as greeting. Gaara seemed to be holding about five of them as well, and he too waved.

Iruka approached the two boys and smiled. "Ah, classes ended late. There was an accident in field training."

"Did Konohamaru poke someone in the eye?" Naruto asked.

"Actually, one of the female students stubbed a boy's toe for calling her ugly. Poor boy had two of his toes fractured." Iruka rubbed at his cheek. "Ah, kids."

Naruto led them in to the small apartment and set their small papers bags on the center table. "Gaara's leaving." Naruto said, trying to grin, but ended up frowning.

Iruka nodded. "He has duty to his village Naruto. Just like you have for Konoha." Both boys looked up at him. "Listen, you two make an excellent pair. Morino-san himself said it. Now that's coming from one of the top Jounins. Isn't that great?"

Naruto looked at Gaara then glared at his own toes. "He's still leaving."

"Then both of you will just have to work extra harder and get stronger so that maybe one day, you two can work side by side, ne? We do have an alliance with Sand and vice versa." Both boys exchanged looks. "It'll work out. I believe in both you boys. You'll make it through." Gaara and Naruto both sucked in deep breaths and nodded. "Are you going to leave now, Gaara?"

"Yes. I'm just going to pack these." Gaara headed for the bedroom, carrying all the paper bags in his arms and leaving the door slightly ajar as he went about placing the things Naruto brought for him in his bag.

Iruka turned his gaze to Naruto then ruffled the thatch of blonde hair. "He'll miss you too. Believe me."

Naruto shrugged. "It's like having a brother with me at home all the time."

"I know." Iruka pulled Naruto for a hug. "Both of you do your best. Besides, do you think Gaara would want you to feel extremely sad?" Naruto shook his head in reply. "I thought so."

"I'll miss him. So much." Naruto mumbled.

"I know. I will too." Iruka sighed. Gaara emerged from the bedroom with his gourd strapped to his back along with his bag.

"I'm done." Gaara announced.

Iruka nodded. "We'll walk you to the gates."

TBC

Okay, coming up next, a small wittle kawaii and semi-romantic display between Genma and Gaara. Dawning understanding and maybe a "promise"?

Also, more in to KakaIru next chapter and the webs of … uh, something. Kakashi you ass!

Naruto works hard for his goal! Jiraiya takes him away for training!

I'm trying to get this in to canon line. It's still AU, but hey, I'm trying.

Next chapter will either be the last one, or I'll have 2 more chapters. Depends on my mood and length. Pardon mistakes I might have missed. Self checked you see.

Review no jutsu? (gives people puppy eyes)