Disclaimer: Not even close to mine

If: Hoo wah... I've never had a story be so popular before, or gotten so so many reviews for one chapter... If I keep getting that crazy amount (to me 9 is crazy) of reviews again replies are going at the end of the chapters. But here we go! Chpater 12


LETmeCRY: It really would be so much easier if Gaara could just resign himself to the fact that Sasuke gets what he wants... but I have this feeling that he'll be fighting till the very end. And yes, Itachi isn't a bastard, a little different, I know but I have some ideas I'm gonna mess with concerning him. But anyway, thanks for the review!

xX-Angel.Eater-xX: Indeed, there really is nothing like a boyxboyxboy love triangle. Thanks a lot for the reviews!

Brooklyn'sGurl: You figured it out! Woo:) I had tried to keep it a bit of a mystery, but yup. Naru-chan likes Gaara. Itachi is emotional as of now, but I have a feeling he's going to be a bit bipolar. Ideas? I haven't got a clue where they all come from, I just know they keep coming! XD;

-RenegadeMustang-: Well thanks for the compliments, I try to please! And Itachi doesn't literally eat towels, towels just happen to disappear when he's around. He's like a black hole for towels.

Demonchildssister: I am an updating Machine! as of right now. I like to keep it at every other day. :) I'm glad you liked the cuteness of Gaa-chan and Naru.

blackflame180: Sorry if I didn't outright answer if Naru liked Gaara, I wanted to see if people could figure it out... but yup... he does. I hope you like this chapter!

Pulse.D: lol, poor Naru. I'm sure he'll be fighting Sasuke for Gaara the whole way. Naruto isn't one to give up so easily. Hope ya like this chapter and thanks for the review!

YINGYANGBLOSSOMS : Ah yesh, the jealous and the tension is building! The fight for Gaara is on!... lol. Thanks for all the support!

Ninee Kisuragi: Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad you're liking how this is going. :)


Sasuke was twitching rather violently, and he was sure his anger was palpable. Just seeing Naruto and Gaara all… cute… no! Evilly snuggled together just made his blood boil! He was feeling anger, not some strange emotion, anger! How dare Naruto touch what was his! That's right! Gaara was his and only his! No one else could touch Gaara.

That having been decided on, Sasuke tramped over to the cackling blonde and his annoyed red head. He stood by the edge of the bed, tapping his foot impatiently waiting for Naruto to do something other than laugh.

"He's not going to stop any time soon you know," Gaara said, turning to Sasuke. Sasuke sighed and plopped down into his chair. Gaara rolled his eyes. "What's you people's problem anyway? First you're molesting me in my sleep and now blondie here won't leave my side."

Sasuke growled. "One: I wasn't molesting you in your sleep. Two: I'm going to kill Naruto."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Kill him and you'll be meeting the business end of an axe."

Sasuke blanched. Gaara smirked evilly. Naruto finally managed to reign in his laughter and sighed, leaning back and trying not to start laughing again. He kept grinning and when he caught sight of Sasuke he cracked up again. Gaara hung his head and Sasuke brought a hand up to rub at his head.

"Maybe he'll never stop…" Gaara muttered. Sasuke nodded, though the red head couldn't see him do so. Naruto fell off the bed.

Looking over the edge of the bed, Gaara looked at the blonde, who was now rubbing his head. Rolling his eyes, Gaara sat back up, only to come face to nose with Sasuke.

"Wah!" Gaara exclaimed, flailing about and nearly falling off the bed himself. Sasuke grabbed him and steadied him on the bed. Gaara gasped for air.

"Sorry…" Sasuke said, not looking sorry in the slightest. Gaara glared at him.

"Yeah… sure… I have a feeling that you're about as sorry as he is for laughing," Gaara said, indicating Naruto with his thumb. Sasuke grinned. Gaara shifted about a bit and Sasuke leaned in so that he was nose to nose with Gaara.

"But I am sorry," he said, putting on his most convincing innocent face. Gaara didn't buy it for one second.

"Sure you are…" he said sarcastically.

"Hey Sasuke-teme get away from Gaara!" Naruto suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet and pointing at the Uchiha. Sasuke sighed, and then glared at Naruto.

'Who does he think he is? Ordering me to get away from my Gaara… I'll show you Naruto…' Sasuke thought, grinning evilly. Gaara blanched and tried to back away from Sasuke, who he had determined had lost his mind. Sasuke turned to pin Gaara with a lusty stare and leaned in to kiss the stunned red head. Gaara closed his eyes and fervently wished he was elsewhere, really. The oppressive shadow hovering over him, also known as Uchiha Sasuke, was suddenly shoved off the bed. Gaara cracked open an eye to see a near-livid Naruto twitching to his left. Gaara looked at his friend, stunned. Sasuke was on the floor wondering what the hell had happened.

"I told you to get away," Naruto said, his voice darker than usual. Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"Naruto… calm down, would ya?" Gaara asked. Naruto mumbled something and sat back down on the bed. Resting his head on Gaara's shoulder, Naruto yawned and decided to take a nap. Gaara gently patted his friends head.

"…" Sasuke was speechless. Sitting in his chair and hanging his head, Sasuke sighed. How could he possibly get between them?

"You know, he's normally not this protective," Gaara said offhandedly. Sasuke barked out a laughed.

"I know. The only thing he's ever been protective of are those that really mean something to him… his precious people," Sasuke said, shaking his head. Gaara looked over at the seemingly forlorn Uchiha.

"Surely you're one of his precious people," Gaara said, curious despite himself. Sasuke snorted.

"I suppose I was… but I don't think I'm one now," Sasuke said. Gaara tilted his head.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I betrayed him… I left him… I ignored him…" Sasuke said softly. "How could I still be one of his precious people?"

Gaara looked up at the ceiling. "You know… all that day, that day you showed up, all he could talk about was how his 'bestest buddy' was coming back. How he was so happy and couldn't wait to see you again. I'd say that makes you one of his precious people."

Sasuke looked sadly at Naruto. "I don't deserve to be one of his precious people."

Gaara furrowed his brow and looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha was lost in his own world and didn't seem to notice anything outside of it.

"Why do you say that?" Gaara asked tentatively. "Just because you left three years ago?"

"I didn't just leave… I abandoned this place," Sasuke said. "I thought I knew what was best for me, so I went and did it… I was so wrong…"

Gaara remained silent, listening to Sasuke's words.

"Three years ago… I suppose that's where everything started and fell apart. It all goes back to that time… I had wanted so badly to beat my brother, to be better than him, to prove that I was worthy of attention. I wanted to show that they didn't have to compare me to him. I wanted to be my own person," Sasuke trailed off. "I didn't want to live in my 'perfect' brother's shadow!

"He is anything but perfect! That… that man isn't worthy of praise. He's a living sin! He's an abomination! He's the imperfect one! I just wanted to be seen…"

Gaara felt a pang of sadness for the boy seated beside him. Gaara knew what that was like… to a degree. He at least knew what it was like for no one to see you.

"You know… Itachi, he got himself into a lot of shit when he was in high school. I didn't know it at the time, but he had gotten involved with the very creep I ran off with. That creep got him into so many bad things, but being involved with him did keep Itachi's grades up. I think that's why he did it to begin with. But after a while it changed. He wouldn't come home till the wee hours in the morning; he started to be distant and cold to me and the whole family. He would skip school to go out with his new 'friends' and would come back at midnight, drunk and sometimes covered in blood.

"But none of that mattered. My parents couldn't see that side of him; they only saw the 'perfect' son that they bore. They didn't see that he had joined a gang, they didn't see him drunk, they didn't see him high or stoned, they didn't see all the random sluts he'd bring back to the house… they didn't see anything. And they told me to be more like him!

"I couldn't stand it! That oppressive atmosphere was stifling! And then… then it happened…"

Gaara cocked his head to the side, silently willing Sasuke to continue.

"It was a cold day in the autumn of my eighth grade year. My parents had taken Itachi off to something or other and had left me to fend for myself. I had gone over to Naruto's for a while and we went and visited Sakura for a while, since the three of us were the best of friends, even if I'd never admit it. When I got back to my house it was all over the news. The Uchiha family … it had been a massacre.

"Apparently it was a family get together… I wasn't important enough to even be told about it. They had all gone to some hotel in the next city over, and the whole family except for me was there. Some lunatics had hijacked the hotel and were holding everyone hostage. In a freak accident, one of them tripped and shot one of the hostages. The hotel grew silent for a moment and then all the hostages were trying to get free, trying to get rid of their captors. They had forgotten all forms of caution. The captors… they slaughtered anyone who came near them. There were very few survivors… Somehow the police got in and caught them all, but it was a bittersweet victory. The only Uchiha left was Itachi, and he wasn't even in good shape with a bullet through the leg. There were various other survivors, but it wasn't important to me. That had been my family that had been mindlessly slaughtered. Even though they never acknowledged me, or cared for me, they were still my family, and now they were dead.

"I blamed Itachi… I hated him even more; I didn't even talk to him when he got back. And then I left. I turned my back on him as my family had done to me. I left on that three year journey from hell. I left my brother, and my dearest friends, all to prove that I was better than him, to prove that I could beat him."

Sasuke stopped abruptly, not mentioning the fact that his brother was now trying to get on his good side and had totally changed over the three years he had been gone. Gaara reached out and put his hand on Sasuke's head. Sasuke leaned into the touch and rested his head on the edge of Gaara's bed.

"You didn't have to tell me any of that…" Gaara said. Sasuke shook his head.

"I wanted to tell you," Sasuke said. "I needed to tell someone… maybe I'll be able to tell you everything…"

Gaara looked concernedly at the Uchiha.

"I suppose we've both had pretty hard lives, but don't forget about Naruto. His life hasn't exactly been a bed of roses either," Gaara said, looking once again at his sleeping blonde friend. "I'd think he deserves to hear what went on during those three years and what led up to you leaving."

Sasuke nodded solemnly. He looked up at Gaara and smiled softly. Gaara blinked at him.

"What?" Gaara asked perplexed about the soft look he had received.

"Thanks," Sasuke said, leaning in to kiss Gaara's cheek, only to be shoved away by a still sleeping Naruto.

"Stay away from Gaara teme…" was muttered in the blonde's sleep. Sasuke blinked at the blonde. Gaara brought up a hand to try and stifle his laughter… it didn't work. Gaara cracked up. Sasuke sighed.

Even in his sleep Naruto foiled his plans.


Across town, Itachi finally stopped sneezing.

"Maybe I shouldn't clean this place up… I keep sneezing like crazy…" he mumbled, setting his duster down for a moment.