Tittle: Love will conquer pain
Author: Coriander
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I'm not making any money from this whatsoever. Don't try to sue me, I have nothing to give. My bank account is in the negatives lol. I'm not posting this in every freaking chapter.
Note: I only recently got into Naruto but I've seen all the episodes that did come out. I hope you like it. I've always thought that Naruto and Gaara would make the cutest couple, and since not many people seem to agree with me, I decided to write my own. I hope you like it.
Warning: I don't know how graphic this fic will get which is why I've rated PG-13 for now, but the rating might go up. This is a shonen-ai fic, meaning boys in love with boys. If you don't like it, don't waste my time with flames, just move the fuck on. Thank you.
PS: Thanks to Dawn for beta reading this for me.
Naruto
begun to drift off as Gaara talked on and on about the most idle of
things. Over the two years that they've known each other, Gaara's
chatty side never failed to surprise him. When he'd first met the
boy, he'd been eerily quiet and sullen; even more so than Sasuke,
and that was saying something. The only times he had ever heard him
talk at length was when he told him about his childhood, and when
they'd fought at the end of the chuunin exam.
After the
fight between the sand and the leaf, the Hidden Valley of Sand had
found out that it had been Orochimaru posing as their Kazekage who
had ordered the attack on Kohona (sp). They had surrendered to the
leaf village, and as a show of good faith, offered their most
'treasured' asset: Gaara. Technically, he had been their trump
card, being the strongest ninja that they had. But the truth was that
this had been their chance to get rid of the feared monster. He had
been impossible to control, and impossible to kill.
But no
matter; it was Kohona's problem now.
The new hokage had
learned of Gaara's situation from Naruto, but decided to accept
Gaara into their midst anyway. She understood that Gaara's erratic
behavior was not from his inability to control the monster, but from
the pain and anger that had resulted from his village's treatment
of him. She saw in him the same person that Naruto could have become
if it hadn't been for a select few.
Naruto did understand the Hokage's reasons. He saw what he could have been in Gaara. So he made it his goal to be to Gaara what Iruka-sensei and all the others had become to him. He would be Gaara's friend, and whatever else Gaara might need so that he wouldn't feel so lonely anymore.
Naruto smiled and nodded at one of Gaara's comments. After about a year and a half of living together, Gaara had shown him a side of him that he doubted anyone had ever seen. Probably because they hadn't wanted to see it. Gaara was really such a sweet person at heart. Gaara had told him of the incident with his uncle, which had actually made Naruto shed tears of anger and sorrow. How could they treat a child in such a way? But his uncle had been right about one thing, and Naruto had told him as much: the pain in his heart could be healed by having friends and loved ones. Naruto had promised to become his friend, and to never let him down.
Gaara had had his doubts, but after a few months of observation, Gaara had realized that Naruto was a man of his word. After all, that was his way of the ninja. So Gaara began telling him things. Some were personal things, and others were just trivial things that he'd noticed. Naruto thought that Gaara must have been storing all of these thoughts in his head, and dying to have someone to tell them to, but never bothered because he figured no one would care. Naruto knew how he felt; after all, he'd gone through the same thing.
Naruto suddenly felt weight in his lap. He must have spaced out, because he didn't notice when Gaara had gotten up, walked over, and plopped himself into his lap.Another thing that had surprised him about Gaara was the amount of affection he requested. The first time Gaara had launched himself at him and hugged him tightly, Naruto hadn't known what to do. His first instinct had been to push him away, but then he understood that Gaara was not only testing him, but also needed physical attention that he'd never received. So he had returned the hug. From then on, Gaara had taken to randomly seeking him out to hug or cuddle, and Naruto let him. He had promised after all.
"Hey, Naruto. Are you paying attention?" Gaara pouted. He could be so childish sometime. But it was cute, so it was ok.
"Yeah, I'm listening. Children are annoying. I don't know why you keep going over there to watch them." Naruto rolled his eyes, but put his arms around him and pulled him closer.
Gaara settled against him, and looked down. He didn't answer, but Naruto could probably guess. He sighed and didn't press the matter.
"Gaara." He called out.
"Hm?"
"How's the pain in your chest?" he rested a hand against Gaara's heart.
"It's different when I'm with you." He answers quietly.
Gaara didn't understand. There used to be this constant pain in his chest. And whenever it flared, it would call out to the monster inside him, making him thirst for blood. But recently, it had gone dull. It wasn't completely gone, and would flare whenever he was alone in a crowd, and even more so when he watched the children being so happy and carefree... But lately, a different kind of pain would flare up when he was in Naruto's arms. He wasn't sure if pain was the right word for it. He remembered his uncle telling him that pain was something distressing that clouded up your thoughts and made you feel weak.
This feeling was clouding up his thoughts, and made him feel weak in some way, but it was definitely not distressing. It actually made him feel alive. Which is why he'd taken to being in Naruto's arms whenever the opportunity arose. He'd even stated crawling into bed with Naruto, to watch him sleep. He couldn't sleep himself, but just resting his head on Naruto's chest and listening to him breath was enough make him feel, safe and well rested; make him feel normal.
"Hm? Different you say? What do you mean?" Naruto asked. He had that confused look on his face that made the feeling in Gaara's chest intensify. He didn't know what to do about it. It did hurt, but he wanted the feeling to stay. He squeezed Naruto tighter.
"It's this weird feeling in my chest that kinda hurts, but in a good way. I don't want the feeling to go away like before. But it only happens when I'm in your arms. Do you know what it is? Somehow it feels; wrong, to call it pain. Naruto?" Gaara looked up at him.
Naruto had frozen up, and was looking at him weird. It was, wonderment? Like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Really? Um, well, hehe! Gaara, you really feel that way?" he looked really nervous.
"Yeah. Is that bad? You know what it is don't you? Tell me please?"
Naruto didn't know what to say. He looked so open and vulnerable, Naruto wanted to hold him tightly and never let go. Naruto couldn't believe how naïve Gaara sounded. It was hard to believe that this same guy had killed countless others in cold blood. The feeling that he was describing sounded a lot like what love would feel like. It was what he used to feel for Sakura on a smaller scale, and a lot like what he himself now felt for Gaara. Could it be that he'd finally found someone to love, who would actually love him back?
This couldn't be a trick. It just would be too cruel. But... Gaara looked so innocent. He really didn't know anything about how love would feel like did he? He's never had anyone love him, or show him affection. At least Naruto had had the hokage, and Iruka-sensei. So he sort of knew, sort of.
He smiled softly, and trailed his fingers along Gaara's cheek. He felt his heart give a little flip when Gaara closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Gaara may not know about love, but his body seemed to know exactly how to respond to a loving touch.
"It sounds like love Gaara. It's the same way I feel when I hold you in my arms, and I love you." He said quietly.
Gaara opened his eyes wide, and his lips formed an 'oh' of wonder.
"Love? Oh. I guess that makes sense. Love. I never thought I'd ever experience it." He sounded so surprise and confused. Naruto gently lifted his chin until he could look into his eyes.
"I want to kiss you Gaara. Is that ok?" he asked seriously.
Gaara's eyes got even wider, and his face turned red.