Notes: Formerly called Therapy, the title changed to Emotional Instability, and probably will change again. I have this entire story written out, and I'll post once a week until all seven chapters are up--probably on Mondays, unless I'm not here.
Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters belong to Kishimoto. Not I. Boo.
Story Summary: Every afternoon, after school, Gaara meets with his therapist to try and figure out why he went crazy last year and nearly killed someone. At the same time, she helps him realize things about himself. SasuGaa mainly, mentions of NaruHina and HakuNeji.
Warnings: Rated M for language, abuse, male-male relationships (though there's nothing serious), mention of suicide, violence, and some other things.
Last full chapter, do enjoy!
Thanks to all seven of the previous chapter's reviewers. Glad to see some new people reading, too.
green24 - I saw something similar on a bumper sticker and was like "Well, have to include THAT."
Yourperfectdisaster - I should write a one-shot about their maybe-date… That could be funny. Haha, thanks! And, yes, Gaara's no longer sad little emo.
yukiislikesnow - Wishful thinking, yum… And, as for Sasuke taking it all right… Well, I guess you'll have to read. Ha.
Naitachal666 - Glad you like it, thanks for the read and the review. And, as for NejiHaku… Long hair love.
Devil Subaru Chan - A Sasuke fan girl, yay! And, you never know… Sasuke can be an evil bastard when he wants to…
amskitty214 - Just for the girly scream, here's another chapter… Though my ears hurt now. And, thanks for joining the… loyal fans.
Mizuki hikari - Just because you asked, I shall continue. Thanks for the read and review.
Friday
"Cheese whiz."
"No way."
"Seriously."
"On a sandwich?"
"With pickles."
"That's gross, you're gonna make me sick."
Previous to that last sentence, Naruto and I had been talking about the weirdest thing we'd ever eaten. He had mentioned cheese whiz and pickle sandwiches, which had caused Haku to gag.
Lunch is so interesting some days. Especially when practically everyone is in a good mood. I'm feeling better about getting that whole lead weight of my crush on Sasuke finally off my chest, Naruto is glad because he helped score the winning goal in the football game last night, and Haku is just always perky.
Naruto is also glad because his friend Neji set up a--supervised--date between Naruto and Hinata. But I'm not allowed to mention that at school.
"A couple of weeks ago Kankurou tried to make a soufflé. I don't know what he did wrong, but somehow we got burned chocolate pudding, bread, and animal crackers. It tasted pretty good, but it looked weird."
"Why was Kankurou making a soufflé?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
"I still haven't figured it out exactly, but it was something to do with a challenge from Temari." I shrug, going back to my pizza.
"Back in my old school, they always tried to make fancy 'cuisine', only because they were cooking for hundreds, they make it cheap. So, like, a chicken cordon bleu was a chicken patty, with some American cheese on it, and some other stuff. Really gross combination, and it looked awful too." Haku adds in, not seeming as sick now.
A trey sets down on the table next to mine, across from Haku, and I glance up, barely holding back a smile as Sasuke sits down.
"Oh, great. Are you going to eat with us every day, Ice Princess?" Naruto asks, sarcastically, leaning back on the wall behind the table.
"I just might do that, since it will annoy you into doing something incredibly stupid." Sasuke answers, smirking smugly. I glance over at him, noticing that his left hand is down at his side, while he eats with his right hand. Abruptly, his left hand--which is right next to me, since he's on my right side--is on my leg, and it's all I can do not to choke on my pizza. A moment later he's back in his own personal space, but I see a note sitting on the leg of my jeans. Dropping my pizza and feigning having an itch, I grab the paper, stuffing it into my pocket.
"Talk about gross food, that Italian place in the mall is awful. The sauce they use is so watery, and they undercook or overcook everything." Naruto is saying, making faces as he does.
"What would you possibly know about good food, Naruto? You eat ramen six times a week, or else school lunches." I answer, picking at my steamed vegetables, which smell vile.
"I resent that, it's not my fault I can't cook." Naruto snaps back, crossing his arms.
"But it is your fault you're too lazy to buy yourself instant meals that have at least some health value." Sasuke cuts in, grinning. Making fun of Naruto's eating habits is always fun, and it seems he knows that too.
"What is this, Gang Up on Naruto Day? Jeez, what about Haku? I don't think he even eats meat, that's certainly not healthy!" Naruto yells, looking like he's actually upset. Of course, he's not, I can tell.
"Shut up, blondie. It's called being a vegetarian. I eat peanut butter like you wouldn't believe for my protein." Haku answers without looking up from his salad. Naruto looks lost, so he sighs and waves his hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine. If my eating habits are so bad, why don't you guys come cook for me?"
"Because I'm not going to waste my time." Sasuke says, almost simultaneous with my own answer of "Because I can't cook."
I jump visibly this time when Sasuke's hand lands on my leg, but Naruto and Haku don't seem to notice. Glancing down as if looking for something in my backpack, I watch as he points to the clock, holds up five fingers, then makes the sign language for 'toilet'--his first curled, thumb under index finger, shaking a bit. Meet him in the bathroom in five minutes? I nod, muttering an 'okay', as if I had found something I was looking for, sitting up straight again.
"Well, I'm going to go kill time elsewhere. Later, weird long-haired-kid who's name I don't know, stupid blonde, and red head et cetera category." Sasuke stands and walks off, apparently knowing that his message got through to me.
"I'm weird?" Haku asks, looking innocent. "And he doesn't know my name? Terrible."
"At least he didn't call you stupid." Naruto mutters, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke's back.
I glance at the clock, at the same time answering. "Hey, come on, I'm 'et cetera'. How much worse can you get?" Five minutes, and then I see what he wants. Probably to tell me he thinks I'm disgusting.
I skip to Chiyo's office that afternoon, and even try skipping up the stairs, until I almost fall and break my neck. So instead I take them two at a time, and skip down the hallways of the landings. I plop into a seat in the waiting room, grinning like an idiot for all to see.
Five minutes before three, the door to Chiyo's office opens, and Hinata walks out. I'm so happy I actually wave to her, and--to my surprise--she walks over and stands in front of me, looking down and fidgeting nervously.
"What's up, Hinata?" I ask, trying to not freak her out. The fact that I know her name probably isn't reassuring, though.
"Y-you're Gaara, right?" She whispers, and I nods. "N-Neji-niisan said you were fr-friends with Naruto… the guy he wants me to g-get to know."
"I am." I answer, sitting up a bit more. Supervised date, and this Neji guy probably is doing a background check on Naruto and his friends, just in case. Sounds rather intense.
Hinata sits down next to me, looking away nervously. Honestly, am I that creepy? "Neji-niisan told me that N-Naruto was nice and funny… but that he also didn't r-really know him. What's he l-like?" She whispers, and I tilt my head.
"Well, nice and funny are the tip of the iceberg, I suppose. He's… an individual. Like, he plays sports, but isn't all jock-ish about it. And he's really only nice to people that seem like they need it--well, he's nice to everyone, but he's really nice to people who seem like they need his loud, sometimes annoying friendship. That doesn't make any sense."
"Oh… I see…" She answers, before looking up at the clock, jumping up. "Th-thanks, Gaara. I'd better get going, good-bye." With that she's gone, and I shrug, making my own way into Chiyo's office. Just what I need, a friend as weird as I am. Or as crazy. Whatever.
Before I even sit down, Chiyo is barraging my with questions. "How was your day? Did you talk to Hinata? She told me about her cousin telling her that your friend Naruto there was interested in her, and I thought that talking to you might give her an idea of what he was like."
"Uh… my day was amazing, I talked to her and told her what he was like, sort of, and I know that Naruto is trying to get to know her, because he told me last night on the phone, after I hung up with Sasuke." I wonder if she'll notice that last bit.
"You talked to Sasuke on the phone? What about?" Perception freak.
"He wanted to know if the rumors were true. I told him which ones were. We also talked today in school." here I take a breath, getting ready to relay possibly the happiest conversation of my life. Well, certainly the happiest one to take place in a blue-and-green-tiled bathroom.
-Flashback-
When five minutes had passed, Gaara excused himself from lunch to 'take a piss'. Ah, so eloquent. He made his way down the hall into the boy's room, looking around for a moment for Sasuke, who stepped in soon after him. Without hesitation, the Uchiha closed the bathroom door, checked to make sure they were alone, then leaned himself on the door.
"So, you do." he said, expecting the red-head to know exactly what he was talking about. Of course he did, what else could there be to discuss privately in a bathroom?
"Yeah…" Gaara had answered quickly, tugging nervously at the sleeves on his long-sleeved t-shirt. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, the first being Are you going to hate me forever? Instead, he kept quiet, looking down at the floor.
"Well, that certainly makes things easier." Sasuke had said, moving away from the door and standing directly in front of Gaara. Personal space apparently wasn't taken into consideration.
"Easier how?" He had asked, voice soft, to keep it from shaking. Please, just say you hate me and leave. Don't torment me with suspense, or lies. Just get it over with. I don't even care if your brother is outside that door waiting to kill me… Just give me some sort of response. He had mentally begged, biting his lip.
"Easier because now I don't have to worry about rejection." Sasuke's arms had gone around him, and Gaara had stiffened for a moment, before realizing exactly what was going on. Hesitantly, his arms went around the Uchiha, as he closed his eyes.
"I suppose this is going to disappoint a lot of girls in school." He had whispered, jokingly, the happiness and relief making him want to fall down and cry. It was better to save that for later, though.
"Their fault for not noticing my flamboyant tendencies." Sasuke had answered with a laugh, letting him go. "If my brother ever bothers you again, tell me, and I'll take care of things." He had added, leaning forward and giving the red-head just the lightest kiss on the cheek. "Call me tonight if you want, preferably on my cell phone. And don't worry about that note I gave you, it says all this crap I just said here, in more words." With that Sasuke had opened the door and left, leaving Gaara standing there in his own bubble of happiness.
-End Flashback-
By the time I finish relaying that to Chiyo, I'm tearing up again, which is really sad because only girls cry when they're happy. I rub at my eyes, grinning. "Itachi gave me this really dirty look during gym, but he didn't bother me at all, and I heard him tell Kisame 'not today' when I was in the locker room. I think that he isn't the only one with influence in his family, and that Sasuke must have something over his head to make him leave me alone."
"That's really good, I suppose. Either way, I'm happy for you. Hard to believe that we won't be seeing each other every afternoon anymore." Chiyo smiles, and I grin back. Part of me wants to have a sappy, girly moment and hug her, but that'd be awkward. Instead I glance at the clock, and notice that an hour is up.
"I'd better get going, Dad said last night that he's getting out of work early and taking us for Chinese." I say, standing up and stretching, lifting my bag.
"Gaara, are you going to tell your family about your relationship?" Chiyo asks suddenly, making me pause.
"I think I'll tell Kankurou and Temari, but not Dad. He'd not a total asshole, but I don't think he'd entirely approve of the whole guy-with-guy thing." I shrug, grinning. "Maybe I'll just see what happens. I can always move in with Naruto if Dad flips out on me."
"Well, then. Feel free to write, call, or visit any time. I must say, you were one of my most… interesting patients. And I've had a lot of interesting patients." Chiyo smiles, and I leave before she can do something weird, like hug me.
Chinese for dinner, then calling Sasuke to maybe hang out this weekend. Hell, if things keep looking this positive, maybe I'll get him to be friends with Naruto. Or something.
--
Aww, Gaara's world is all positive now! I'm such a sucker for happy endings.
After this is the epilogue, and then... story complete! I'm going away this weekend, so I'll post up the final part on Monday.