Disclaimer: Ah Naruto, how I wish I owned you... but I don't, so I cry, but not really
If: Wah, some mixed reviews for last chapter. Personally, I think Gaa-chan's dream was pretty scary, and a lot of you seemed to agree with me. But anyway, here's the next chapter that y'all are prolly anxiously awaiting, either that or its all in my imagination...
LETmeCRY: Oh yeah, its the dreaded Plot Twist of DOOM!... but yeah, I'll agree that the lying on Gaara thing was a little off, just a little plot device. Thanks for the reviews!
xX-Angel.Eater-xX: I'm glad you like the Sleeping Beauty thing, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it kind of carried over from the chapter before last. Ooo... I'm talented like that... not. Thanks for the review!
Demonchildssister: He he he... love triangle... I believe those sort of things are inevitable in a Naruto fic, I just can't help but wonder who Naruto's jealous of. Thanks for the review.
Brooklyn'sGurl: Yeah, happy dreams are scary, but nightmares are worse. And yup, poor Naru was hurt. I guess he does like one of them, its just never been apparent. Poor Naru-kun...
blackflame180: Welcome to the ride! Thanks for the review, and we'll see who Naru-kun likes soon, I hope.
YINGYANGBLOSSOMS : Yeah, that dream was scary, and I'll agree I'd prolly be hiding under my bed for a few days after it. :0 ... Thanks for the compliments!
Gaara grumbled to himself. He hurt. For the first time since he woke up, he hurt. Gaara didn't like it. He blamed the whole thing on Sasuke. He blamed the pain, and the awkward-ness all on the Uchiha. Yes awkward-ness, it was a Saturday apparently and Naruto was staying the whole day. Ever since he had walked in on them… that just sounded wrong… he hadn't been the same. That creepy smile, the stiffness, and those cold glares he would send both of them when he thought they weren't looking. Gaara was thoroughly creeped out, not that he wasn't before from that, shudder, dream.
Finally, some of the tension broke when Sasuke left to apparently go home and get some stuff and take a shower. Then it became even more awkward. Gaara was afraid of what would happen if he turned to look at his friend, so he stared longingly at the door, wishing he could just leave.
"Gaara…" Naruto spoke in a low, cool voice. Gaara twitched and hesitantly turned his head to look at his friend. Naruto's eyes were narrowed and Gaara could practically feel that indescribable emotion rolling off him. Gaara gulped.
"What exactly did I walk in on?" Naruto asked coldly. Gaara flinched.
"Apparently you walked in on me being molested in my sleep," Gaara said. Naruto's eyes narrowed further. Gaara grew a little nervous.
"What really happened?" Naruto asked, leaning forward. Gaara felt like a mouse being cornered by a cat.
"That's what you walked in on! Do you think I wanted him all over me? He must have climbed into my bed after they sedated me last night!" Gaara exclaimed, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture.
"How am I supposed to know that that's the truth?" Naruto asked suspiciously. Gaara stared at his friend, his mouth falling open.
"When have I ever lied to you?" he asked slowly. Something not right was happening now. Naruto never doubted him, he was never suspicious of him… what had he done?
Naruto seemed to think about it for a moment. He sighed and bowed his head down. "You never have…"
"That's right! Why would I lie about something like this? I told you the other day… five days ago that he was annoying me and stalking me and being this totally creepy jerk," Gaara said, but suddenly it occurred to him that he sounded desperate, he didn't sound like he was telling the truth. "God damn it…"
Naruto looked up at his normally impassive friend and blinked. Gaara was frustrated, that much was clear. Sighing, Naruto got out of his chair and sat next to Gaara on the bed and pulled him into a hug.
"Sorry… I don't know what's wrong with me," he said, lying through his teeth and knowing it. He was insanely jealous and it was getting to him. He didn't want to lash out at Gaara, but he was just so blinded by these stupid feelings that he couldn't help himself.
"'s ok," Gaara replied, leaning against his friend and resting his head on his shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong with you either."
Naruto laughed. It was rather amusing and relieving to know that Gaara didn't know he was jealous. "Well, aren't we the smartest people out there."
Gaara poked Naruto. "Don't put me in the same intellectual level as you, I'm much smarter."
"I'm sorry Gaara, I forgot. I have a brain made of cheese, and your brain is a toxic waste dump filled with gophers," Naruto said, referring to an inside joke from two years ago.
"And don't you forget it," Gaara said. Naruto grinned and hugged Gaara.
"Sorry 'bout this man," he said quietly. Gaara snorted.
"Its alright, just don't ever assume that I want his attention ever again," Gaara said, poking Naruto for emphasis. Naruto felt relief rush over him.
"Yeah, ok Gaara, whatever you say," he said nonchalantly.
"Hey!" Gaara exclaimed indignantly. "I don't want his attention! He thrusts it upon me!"
Naruto cracked up. "'Thrusts' it upon you, eh? Could that be considered rape?"
Gaara turned red and shoved his friend. "Don't imply things like that!"
"Oh? Why? Don't tell me that that put ideas in your head," Naruto said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Cause I would be more than willing to cater to those whims."
Gaara shoved Naruto from the bed. "Pervert."
Naruto was cracking up on the floor, tears streaming from his eyes.
"You know Naruto, you promised me once that you wouldn't let that perv you live with rub off on you, whatever happened to that?" Gaara said leaning over to look at his friend sprawled on the floor. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.
"I guess living with him for several years has taken its toll…" Naruto said, nodding. "At least I'm not objectifying women and taking them back to 'my place.' Or writing those smut novels."
"Thank god for small favors," Gaara muttered, straightening and leaning back to rest his head against the wall.
"Hey Gaara…" Naruto said, poking his head up and resting it on the edge of Gaara's bed.
"What?" Gaara asked, not turning to look at his friend.
"We're good, right?" Naruto asked hesitantly. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow and turned to look at Naruto, who had a semi-anxious look on his face.
"Yeah… we're good," Gaara replied turning away from his friend. He could practically feel the smile on the blonde's face and then was sucked into a bone-crushing hug. Gaara cried out in pain, feeling all his injuries jar painfully.
"Sorry…" Naruto mumbled, letting go of his friend. Gaara sighed and pulled Naruto back into a hug, mumbling something about being gentle this time. Naruto only smiled and held on.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was asking himself why he had come home. Apparently his brother had gone a little insane while he was gone. The house was a mess, and that was putting it lightly. There was trash everywhere, clothes strewn about, Sasuke didn't even know what half the stuff in the living room was, and he didn't think he wanted to know. Making his way upstairs to his room, Sasuke noticed that the only room not destroyed by his bastard brother was his own room. He wandered in, grabbed some clothes, stuffed them in his school bag, and stripped to take a shower. He grabbed the towel hanging in his room and wrapped it around his waist. Sasuke had found out that first day he had come back that Itachi would eat towels and if he didn't keep one in his room he'd get out of the shower and wouldn't have a towel. So Sasuke traveled down the hallway to get to the bathroom. Unfortunately for him, his brother's bedroom door opened and he stepped out, looking half-awake and rubbing his eyes. Sasuke simply raised a paper thin eyebrow.
Itachi blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes again and then stared at his younger brother with his mouth hanging open, disbelieving that he was there. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Itachi, you're in the way," Sasuke said, motioning for his brother to move to the side of the hallway.
"You're alive!" was the only warning Sasuke got before he was tackled by his apparently overly emotional brother.
"God damn it Itachi! Get off me!" Sasuke yelled, trying to pry the older Uchiha off. After several minutes of struggling, Sasuke just resigned himself to his fate of being crushed by his brother.
Suddenly, Itachi sat up, but didn't get off Sasuke. Sasuke glared at his brother, who only glared in return. Sasuke had this feeling that Itachi had created that giant mess in the house because he hadn't been home.
"Where have you been?" and Sasuke's fears were confirmed. Sasuke sighed and just looked at his brother.
"I've been at the hospital watching…" Sasuke was unable to finish his sentence as his brother cut him off.
"Hospital! Are you alright! What happened!" and thus Itachi started to inspect every inch of Sasuke's body. Sasuke's eyes went wide and he tried to scramble away from his psychotic brother.
"I was just getting to that!" he exclaimed, huddling against the wall far away from Itachi, clutching the towel. "A friend of mine was very badly injured, and he needed all the support he could get."
"Oh," Itachi said. He stood up. "You could have called."
Sasuke flushed and looked away. "He kinda needed me there at all times, and I forgot during the times I was able to leave his side…"
"…Right," Itachi said. He looked at his brother before sighing. "Go take your shower."
Sasuke nodded and scrambled into the bathroom. Itachi sighed.
"Sasuke…" he mumbled as he looked at the bathroom door before turning and heading downstairs to clean up. Hopefully his brother would tell him something… he couldn't stay mad at him forever… could he?
Gaara had fallen asleep. Naruto smiled. He nudged his friend, who was using his shoulder as a head rest and had an arm draped across his stomach. Gaara just shifted in his sleep and nuzzled against Naruto's neck. Naruto stifled a giggle. Gaara was just too cute when he was asleep!
Naruto was a little curious as to where Sasuke was though. He had left several hours ago and hadn't come back yet, not that Naruto minded. He loved spending time with Gaara. Somehow he had managed to coax his friend and one of the nurses into playing cards. Gaara now owed him $15 bucks, even though they had been betting quarters. Naruto had laughed at his friend's horrible luck. Gaara had just muttered something incoherent. The nurse was now $7 richer as well, thanks to Naruto and Gaara's generous losing. Naruto was happy that his friend was acting so … happy, for lack of a better word. It was nice to see him without that impassive, impassible mask he always wore, and for once Naruto wasn't pretending to be happy.
Naruto was happy that things were getting back to normal, and then Sasuke entered his mind. Alright, so things weren't going to be normal ever again. That teme had come back finally, and Naruto was ecstatic. But Naruto was also a bit apprehensive as well. That bastard had already proven that he had some pretty snarky intentions when it came to Gaara, and Naruto wondered what had happened to him over the three years he had been gone. Sasuke was even acting different around him, not calling him a dobe as often. Something had happened with that creep Orochimaru, something weird and it had changed Sasuke, whether for the better or not was still to be seen. All Naruto knew was that Sasuke wasn't who he used to be.
"Does that even make sense?" he asked himself aloud.
The door opened quietly and a bag was dropped on the floor. Naruto laughed at the expression on Sasuke's face, waking Gaara in the process. Groggily rubbing his eyes, Gaara caught sight of Sasuke in the doorway, with a 'deer in the headlights' look on his face. Gaara brought a hand up to his temples and rubbed them.
"Not again…" he muttered as Naruto continued to laugh.
