The next few days were Hell for just about everyone.

Gaara tried convincing Naruto that it wasn't him who killed his father. He tried to tell him that even the Kyuubi didn't kill him. He tried to tell him that Jiraiya didn't keep it from him to hurt him. Naruto tuned him out most of the day. Gaara left to visit his sister in the hospital, she was due to be released the next day. When the redhead returned, he found Naruto in the same spot and position he had left him in two hours earlier. He then forced the other boy to get out for some fresh air and do the training Tenten had set up for him days before.

Naruto walked around like a zombie. He refused to talk to anyone outside of his house and appeared to be in extremely deep thought. Tenten had tried to tell him that he had been doing a great job lately on her training course and that she was going to up the end target number to 30, but Naruto just shrugged her off. He had seen Sakura and Sasuke heading towards the hospital. They said Sasuke was going in for his second surgery. Sakura wanted him to wish them both good luck, but Naruto just stared at nothing through the space between them, they eventually walked away, Sakura whispering. He wandered around aimlessly until he just decided he didn't want to deal with people any more. Then he headed home.

And Gaara was still there.

Gaara sat at the kitchen table with set-up of food in front of himself and a similar set-up across from him. He idly twirled his fork on his napkin, tearing it to shreds. When Naruto entered, Gaara looked up and stared at him. Naruto hung his head guiltily, he hadn't remembered Gaara saying anything about making dinner at a certain time but he probably had shut it out of his head selfishly.

"I made dinner," Gaara stated the obvious. "It's probably cold now. Want to go get barbeque?"

"I'm sorry," Naruto choked out. "I'll eat this even if it's cold."

Naruto sat down across from Gaara at the table and looked at his dishes. Gaara had made half of one gigantic fish for each of them. A pot of rice sat in the middle of the table. Stir-fried vegetables were on a smaller plate next to his main one with the fish. Naruto served himself some rice into his bowl and ate a bite of the cold sticky clump. He took a piece of the fish and popped it into his mouth with his chopsticks. Despite being cold, it was really good. It was perfectly grilled and seasoned and Naruto was sure that if it were warm then it would be more than excellent. Naruto shoveled all the vegetables into his mouth quickly. They were sweet and still warm so he didn't want to wait for them to get cold.

Gaara sat and watched as Naruto alternately took a bite of his fish and a clump of his rice. Naruto was actually eating it all cold. He couldn't believe it. Unless Naruto really hated barbeque that much, then it didn't make sense to eat this food while it was disgustingly cold. Gaara didn't even want to eat it cold. He knew that his cooking was far below either of his siblings' skill level. He watched the blonde shovel in the food and look like he was actually enjoying it.

"Aren't you going to eat," Naruto asked around a mouthful of food. "This is really good!"

"You don't have to eat it. Don't feel obligated to."

"It's really good. I'm serious."

Gaara looked down at his fish. It looked hard and dry from sitting out. The vegetables looked soggy to him. And the rice… well, he wouldn't even touch that subject. Carefully, he picked up his hashi and positioned the pair in his hand. He tore a small piece of the fish off and brought it to his mouth. Skeptically he placed it on his tongue and began chewing. He supposed Naruto was telling the truth. It wasn't horrible. It was edible.

He swallowed down a few more bites of the cold grilled fish that he spent that time and effort to cook for Naruto. His vegetables were still slightly warm so he didn't mind them as much as the fish. The rice was getting hard again and losing the sticky quality. He could barely swallow one bite of it. Gaara picked at his fish for a while, at the same time Naruto was trying to clean off the bones.

Naruto looked up at Gaara and smiled at him. Fish and rice and the sweet sauce covered Naruto's mouth and face. Gaara was taken aback by the smile because of how Naruto had been acting. The redhead didn't know how to react, so he sat there in silence and stared. He unconsciously grabbed his tattered napkin and reached across the table to wipe off the blonde boy's face.

Naruto laughed. Gaara felt like he did something he wasn't supposed to.

"I'm sorry."

"You're acting like my wife," Naruto cackled. "Don't apologize. It's kinda cute."

"Okay."

There was silence for a while. Gaara decided to be useful and clean up the dinner that he had made. He stacked the plates and brought them to the sink. He scraped the uneaten food into the trash while the sink was filling and getting soapy. He dropped dish after dish into the sink and let them descend slowly to the bottom. When all the plates and bowls were in the hot water, Gaara plunged his hands in started scrubbing the first thing his fingers found.

Naruto stood up and walked over to where Gaara stood. He grabbed a hand towel and threw it in Gaara's face. Gaara jumped back, spilling soapy water on the floor. He took the towel off of his face and stared at Naruto. The Konoha genin just smiled at the other boy again, the same smile that reached his eyes like before. Naruto unzipped his jacket and plunged his hands into the hot water and took up the sponge and bowl that Gaara had been cleaning.

"I'll do this since you cooked, but you can help me dry them off with that towel and put them away," Naruto explained. "Got it?"

Gaara nodded and took the bowl from Naruto's hand after he rinsed it off. They stood there without speaking, only the occasional running water to create some background noise in the otherwise silent house. Occasionally Naruto would look over at the Sand genin and smile at him for no reason. Finally, when there was only two dishes left in the sink and the rice pot, Naruto broke the silence.

"Tell me about what you did while I was in the hospital…"

"I sat there in your room."

"That's it? You just sat there?"

"Yeah. Well, Shizune-san did some tests on me. And I talked with some of your friends, kinda. Sasuke couldn't talk. And Sakura did enough talking for all three of us. Shikamaru was there once."

"You actually talked to them?"

"Yeah."

"How did you heal me?"

"I kissed you."

Shock. "How did that work?"

"I kissed you and tried to send my thoughts through to you. Shukaku tried to reach Kyuubi also… I'm not sure if it worked."

"How did you think of that?" Still shocked.

"Well," Gaara muttered. "I asked Sakura what the best way to tell some one you love everything without actually speaking."

"That doesn't explain why you thought it would work on me, even if it did."

"That's the simplest question yet. Because you're my most precious person… and I… I love you."

"What!"

Naruto was shocked more than he had been by anything else Gaara had said all day. He took a step back and dropped the last clean dish into Gaara's awaiting hands. His mouth flapped open like a fish. For once, he had absolutely nothing to say. He didn't know what to think of this new information. Gaara had said it so simply and uninhibited. Naruto couldn't process the thought. Gaara loved him? Did Gaara even know what love was? Naruto then decided one thing, he'd think about it all later.

"What's going on with your sand," Naruto asked, quickly changing the subject.

"From what the Hokage-sama explained to me, Shukaku is trying to merge with me. He's always trying to get out, so I don't know why he'd be trying to find a way to stay inside longer. He won't tell me anything either. She also said that each time he succeeds in merging with me, my powers grow even more. My body can't handle the power so it reacts to strong emotions to get rid of it. Like, when I got angry at the hospital or when I was sad at the hotel. Or the other day when I got scared about that… whatever that was falling on your head… my sand protected you… Understand?"

"Yeah, I do." Naruto nodded. "It was a frog statue I made with Iruka-sensei when I was little. I guess you protected that, too." Pause. "So, you need a seal like mine to control the merging then?"

"So it seems."

"And this seal is only able to be performed by someone with my bloodline?"

"That's what they say."

"And I'm the only one of my bloodline since my father…"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I better try to learn how to do it, won't I?"

"You will?"

Naruto laughed at Gaara's excitement. It seemed to Naruto that no one had ever gone out of their way to do anything to help Gaara before. It seemed like a sad existence. Naruto couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like if Iruka-sensei had never been so kind to him. He'd still be crying, or even worse, he could have turned out like Gaara had. The blonde wanted to help his friend in any way that he could. Even if it meant confronting something painful, like whom his father was.

"Do you want to go bug Ero-sennin after we finish cleaning up the kitchen? I bet he knows where I should start because he knows all about sealing jutsu."

Gaara nodded at Naruto.

After they finished cleaning said kitchen, the pair set off on a journey to find the old pervert. They started by simply asking around if anyone had seen him. Not too soon after, they found themselves standing outside of a cheap hotel that Naruto never knew existed. They glanced at each other and entered the hotel. The clerk behind the counter said that he was staying there but went out. He directed them to the bar across the street and told the two boys to watch out for the guy because he seemed a little reckless. Naruto laughed.

The bar was dark and clouded. Naruto walked in casually like he had done this before. Gaara, on the other hand, felt like he shouldn't be there at all. He was very uncomfortable in that sort of environment with all those shady people who could possibly be plotting to assassinate him. He never knew who his father would get to do the dirty work next. Needless to say, Gaara felt more than a little paranoid inside the bar.

Jiraiya was sitting in the corner. Drinking as usual. He was talking to some girls and telling them all about how he was a famous author and many people loved his books. He was going on and on about how the girls could be his inspiration for his next book. They giggled and fawned all over him. Naruto thought he was going to be sick.

"Oi! Ero-sennin!"

"Naruto! What are you doing her, you little brat," he scowled.

"Teach me how to do that seal for Gaara," Naruto shouted.

"Later. Can't you see I'm busy doing research for my next great novel? I've found the perfect inspiration here."

"There's no time for this, you pervert!"

Jiraiya jumped to his feet and the girls fell to his sides with high-pitched screeches. He put one foot on the table and pushed off. The sake jugs fell over and the liquor spilt all over the two girls' skimpy dresses. He leapt next to Naruto facing behind the boy.

"I guess you're right," Jiraiya agreed.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Naruto muttered.

"Look at your friend, you little brat!"

Naruto spun around and searched the room for Gaara. He just realized that he wasn't with him. He squinted to see through the smoke filled room. His eyes caught sight of a bit of red hair in the corner blocked by a pack of drunks surrounding him.

When Gaara had walked in, the men only saw the scared look on his face and decided he would be good prey for their drunken fun. One dark haired man had snuck up behind Gaara to try and wrap an arm around the boy's neck to choke him. He didn't count on Gaara's sand wrapping around his arm and breaking it before he even touched him. A tall man with glasses and a shorter bald man stood up immediately and went to their friend's rescue. Their fists were caught and crushed when they attempted to punch Gaara in the face. Another man with long hair and torn clothing attempted to kick Gaara and found his leg broken.

Gaara slowly backed himself into a corner when all this was happening. He couldn't control what his sand was doing again. It was automatically protecting him. He felt so scared walking in there and now he felt his sand calling out for blood. He was terrified of what the sand was doing to these men. Gaara buried his head in his hands and shouted.

The men started surrounding him. They called him names and threw things at him to see what else the sand would crush. They chucked their mug at him and watched the glass shatter. More name calling. One man picked up a chair and hurled it at him to see what would happen. Shattered wood flew across the room, giving many of the men splinters. They were too busy yelling at that one man to notice that sand had gathered around all 7 of their pairs of feet.

Gaara let out a frightened yell as he watched his sand collect around their bodies and constrain them. The men then began to panic, and the sand seemed to dance around their bodies in glee. Gaara shut his eyes tight. He didn't want to see it. He waited for the blood to splatter all over him.

Instead of feeling the warm and sticky blood fall around him, Gaara felt a pair of arms wrap around him. They were so warm. Gaara had never felt so warm before. He began to calm down. Instead of hearing the jeering of the sloshed men, he heard a calming voice whisper in his ear. A hand started petting his hair and he fell forward into those arms. Gaara opened his eyes to find Naruto holding him tightly.

The sand had returned to the ground from where it came. The men had all run out of the bar. The only people left in the building were Naruto and himself and Jiraiya and that bartender. He sighed and melted deeper into Naruto's warm embrace.

"I'll teach you everything I know tonight, Naruto. I promise you that. I'm sure that you can figure things out from there."

Naruto nodded, "Give both of us a moment then we can begin."