Disclaimer: I am cheap and poor. And I don't own Naruto.

AN: I'm actually getting a bit fed up with all of the reviews I've been receiving lately, so let me put it very clear to everyone who seems to think that I owe them something. I don't. I do not write for you, I write for me. I write to grow stronger as a writer. So you like my stuff, great. I'm glad you like my style of writing, and even the story that I've cooked up – but do not tell me that I have to update because it's mean not to. Frankly. I don't care.

In other news, this chapter was mostly done, so I added a few last things and here it is. Final's week just ended (for me, anyway) so this is my gift to you in celebration. I hope it meets your expectations (except for the fact that my chapter two's always seem to leave a lot missing).

The Complex: By Sagi
Chapter 2
That day – Saturday – was spent shopping. For Gaara, this equaled the second time in as many days.

However, unlike the day before, Gaara wasn't shopping for necessities which he himself would be using. Nooo. Today Gaara was shopping for Naruto. And, of course, by default he was shopping for Ryuu.

It had been the plan that the Gaara would bring Naruto down to the locksmith in order to make the blond a key for the apartment. Perhaps even to a Phone Hut in order to get the blond his own phone. But the locksmith had been out to lunch, the Phone Hut had been closed and the stores themselves had just happened to be located inside a small town shopping district.

The almost ironic part of this was that many of the stores inside of this particular shopping district were dedicated to babies. And it just so happened that Naruto had a baby.

So while Gaara was looking at the quality of ear plugs that Babies R Us kept in stock, Naruto pranced through the aisles forcing Ryuu into odd little outfits as much as he could. Ryuu, for his own part, didn't seem to enjoy being stripped nearly bare in public and protested as much as he was able.

Meaning that the baby squirmed, cried and generally did his very best to inform his father that "no, this is not fun".

Eventually, Naruto gave up trying to pick out clothes for Ryuu and wandered into a different area of the store. This area housed all of the baby necessities that Naruto hadn't been able to afford (or get somebody else to buy for him) prior to his moving in with Gaara the evening before.

Naruto was probably the luckiest person alive at that moment in time. His best friend had not only promised to help him get through raising Ryuu alone (for a while at least), offered him a place to stay, and had convinced the girls the next floor up to baby-sit should the need arise, but Gaara had also been easily convinced to buy baby necessities.

"Alright, I think we'll be all set." Naruto said a bit later, struggling to balance his child and the load of baby supplies that was piled into a too-small hand basket.

Gaara frowned. "What do you think I'm made of? Money?"

"Gaara, your father is going to leave you his entire fortune and you have a multi-million dollar advertising company ready to promote you to president before you turn twenty two. Yes, I think you're made of money."

As true as it was, Gaara still didn't like being taken advantage of. It reminded him too much of his past.

But this was Naruto. He would do anything for Naruto, knowing that the same would be returned to him. And the blond would never take advantage of him, no matter what the situation.

"What are you forcing me to buy?" He sighed, heaving his shoulders in a sign few realized to be defeat.

Naruto would never take advantage of him, the red head reasoned. His blond friend had always had a pushy sort of personality. He knew what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.

"I picked up some blankets; some more diapers; more formula; a pacifier and some other random things that I though might come in handy." Naruto suddenly spotted something in Gaara's hand. "What's that?"

A certain left eye twitched slightly as green eyes focused on the pack of ear plugs. "I get headaches easily. A crying baby certainly won't help," was all that Gaara said to explain why he was buying Extreme Super Silencing Ear Plugs (prefect for those Need To Sleep occasions such as having relatives with children over, a snoring spouse, next-door construction, noisy neighbors, or if your best friend has randomly shown up with a baby that probably cries a lot).

Naruto offered no complaints, probably wishing that he had the luxury of a night of, if not full than at least quiet sleep.

The two headed off for the cashier and then left the store, making their way back to the locksmith's in order to get Naruto's new key for the apartment and then searching for a phone hut to add Naruto to Gaara's plan.

After that, the two men went back to the apartment.

A note was taped on the door of apartment 2-B, flapping slightly in the warm breeze that was blowing despite the fact that it was late October.

In graceful kanji, obviously written by Neji, was written a note inviting Naruto to the landing dinner that would be held in apartment 2-D that night.

"Naruto-san. The second floor landing would like to extend its welcome to you. Tonight there is a landing dinner to which you are invited." Naruto read slowly over Gaara's shoulder - before the note was crumpled and thrown at the door of apartment 2-C, which just so happened to be where Neji and his roommate lived.

"So... it's even official that I live here to your neighbors?" Naruto asked, bouncing Ryuu slightly in his excitement to be a part of a group that, in his mind, was tight-knit and ready to do anything for each other. "Then I have to go to dinner with you all!"

With that, Naruto bounced into the apartment and flopped down on the couch, leaving Gaara to follow with the bags from their four hour shopping excursion.

The reason that Gaara was carrying all of the shopping bags was simple. He had actually been willing to carry Ryuu and let Naruto take the bags, which were much heavier when it came down to it. However, Ryuu had become a little too excited with the idea of somebody else playing with him and had promptly soiled his diaper. Gaara had not only backed away as quickly as humanly possible, he had also scooped up every single shopping bag and set a fast pace for the nearest bathroom (while desperately wishing that he had bought the Extreme Nasal Plugs along with the Extreme Ear Plugs).

Gaara disappeared into the second bedroom in order to dump Naruto's new purchases and to wonder about where he had put his spare futon. There was no way he was going to spend the rest of his days spending the night on the couch. It didn't matter that he didn't sleep much. Lying on the lumpy couch was not good for his back.

A little later, the two were sitting together on said lumpy couch, having another one of their quiet talks. Ryuu was napping in the other room, his two month old body not exactly designed to stay awake for long periods of time.

"So... you've been okay here?" Naruto started the conversation tentatively.

Gaara picked at the lint on a couch cushion, thinking about his answer. Wondering how he could make the state of his life sound decent with the fewest possible words. He didn't want Naruto to worry about him. But he didn't want to lie to his only true friend either.

"I'm alright." He answered finally, looking up to meet Naruto's clear blue eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as though trying to smile. "You've matured, Naruto. You're actually taking the time to think about my well-being. It's weird."

"Me? No way. I'm just worried about you. I can't help it."

"Well... How about you? Are you okay?"

"Gaara… I've got a kid, no money and I've ended up rooming with you. The mother is dead, her parents are trying to take my baby and I've scared about three people half to death by disappearing in the middle of the night."

A pause while Naruto thought about if he was actually okay or not.

"I guess I'm alright."

Gaara blinked. Naruto had a really odd sense of being "alright". He looked at his blond friend a little more carefully. Noticing the bags under his eyes, and the slightly paler than usual color that his face had taken. Being so pale made the scars on his cheeks fade slightly. The scars that Naruto had been carrying for most of his life; but had no idea where they were from. Naruto's hair was also longer than usual. The natural spiky blond locks drooped slightly, giving him a tired look. Naruto was still short, having grown very little in the time he and Gaara hadn't seen each other. But none the less, the twenty-year-old still smiled. He still spent most of his time caring for others.

"What was she like?" Gaara finally asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Who? What was who like?"

"The mother of your child. What was she like?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, formerly sad blue becoming bright and excited. "She was the most beautiful girl in the world! You know that! She had really soft red hair and green eyes. I was hoping that the baby would have red hair, like hers – but I guess blond is okay. She was really strong too! Not strong in the sense of muscles, but in the fact that she knew exactly who she was and what she could do. She could fight if she needed to, but tried not to. She was smart. Heh. I loved her so much Gaara."

The red head sighed, knowing that Naruto wasn't going to make this easy on him. But... he still needed to know. He needed to make sure that something hadn't happened between whom he thought was the mother and who might really be the mother.

"What was her name, stupid?"

Denial was never one of Gaara's strong points, but he seemed to be taking the effort to smother himself in it today. Don't be Sakura, he seemed to be trying to say.

"You already know that. I told you yesterday." Being oblivious was one of Naruto's stronger traits.

"..."

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura."

Gaara's sighed, a bit louder than the previous one. "Sakura, huh? I figured that it had been her. The sands know that you never had eyes for anyone else."

Naruto fidgeted a little bit. "Er... yeah. I finally got her to go out with me – and somehow we just clicked. I mean, we were only together a little over a year, but it was enough to know that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her." Naruto's excusing tone changed slightly as he laughed, despite the tears that were dripping down his cheeks. "I guess the joke was on me this time. I mean – the number one prankster finally fell so deep in love that he can't get back out... and she leaves me in the worst way possible. Alone. With a baby. If it had been- I mean… I can't-"

Whatever Naruto couldn't do, Gaara didn't hear through the sobs that were suddenly shaking Naruto's slight frame.

Both worried and confused, Gaara really had no idea how to deal with his sobbing best friend. Embracing the blond would be odd – Gaara had a distinct 'no touching unless we're all about to die' rule – a rule reinforced through his troublesome years of high school and college. Trying to reassure him things would be okay was just stupid. Things wouldn't be okay, because any direction that the situation was looked upon, Naruto was still a single, widowed parent with nowhere else to go and nothing to bring with him except his baby. Cheering somebody up had never been one of Gaara's strongest traits either, so the red head was at a serious loss of what to do.

He finally settled for patting Naruto's drooping blond locks awkwardly, wishing that he was just a little more comfortable with himself so that he could properly comfort his friend.

Ryuu's sudden crying in the other room snapped the blond out of his tears better than Gaara did, and Naruto was soon up off of the couch and back with a red faced infant.

If there was any moment in time for Gaara to feel relief for a crying child, that was it.

And then Gaara's cell-phone began ringing.

"Shut up, I'll kill you! Shut up, I'll kill you!" The shrill voice shrieked into the relatively quiet apartment, prompting Ryuu into another batch of tears.

"What?" Gaara grunted into his phone.

"Chouji's just about to get dinner on the table." The voice of Hyuuga Neji said over the line. "Where are you, and your friend?" There was a slight smirk on Neji's voice that Gaara quickly decided that he didn't like.

"We're coming. And if you continue to use that tone with me, I'll kill you. ...Don't make me kill you, Hyuuga."

There was a pause before Neji decided not to answer to Gaara's threat. Instead he said: "The door is unlocked. Hurry up, whatever we're eating... it smells really good" said the smirking voice, before hanging up quickly.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow at his friend, bouncing Ryuu slightly to quiet the wails.

"Dinner's ready." Gaara explained shortly, standing up and motioning for Naruto to do the same. "And they're getting impatient."

"Did they order pizza or something?" Naruto asked, his stomach getting hungry at just the idea. For, being one who had rarely enjoyed a home-cooked meal, the idea of dinner was some sort of take-out food.

The blond scurried towards the nearest sink in order to splash his face with cold water. He didn't want anybody to know that he had just been crying.

"Doubtful." Gaara muttered, yanking open the door and waiting for Naruto to exit the apartment. "Chouji wants to be a world-class chef. Nothing he makes will ever be that simple."

Naruto followed as Gaara crossed the landing and pushed open the door to apartment 2-D. A delicious aroma wafted towards the two men and they followed that smell into the main room, where a group of men were sitting upon a couch, two chairs and the floor.

Neji, who Naruto remembered from earlier that morning stood up from one of the chairs. "Gaara," he greeted, beaming. "And Naruto, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

Neji smiled at the blond before turning and addressing the rest of the group. "I only heard his name this morning, but this is Naruto--" he trailed off, glancing back at Naruto in hopes of being supplied with a surname.

"Uzumaki." Naruto hastened to add. "And my son, Ryuu."

"Right, Uzumaki Naruto, and his son Ryuu." Neji turned back to Naruto. "This is the 'Second Landing Group'. Nara Shikamaru – he lives here – Uchiha Sasuke – he's my roommate – and of course myself, Hyuuga Neji."

"Hyuuga?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening slightly. "Do you know a Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Hinata?" Neji asked, frowning slightly. He looked as though he were thinking hard about all of the relations that he knew of. Apparently, Hinata wasn't on the list. "No, but I haven't met much of my relatives. They all live elsewhere, and I've never traveled." The long haired man gave a sheepish smile.

"The same answer he gave me six months ago," Gaara murmured, so that only Naruto could hear him.

"I see," Naruto murmured, bouncing Ryuu distractedly, a distant look lingering in his eyes as though he were still thinking about Hyuuga Hinata.

"Oi, you guys," an impatient voice said from a doorway that presumably let into the kitchen. "The food is getting cold. And… Naruto-kun, I've mashed together some peas and carrots for you son, if that's alright, I don't know if he can eat solid foods yet – maybe some formula would be…" the voice trailed off, and Naruto turned to look at the man.

His eyes widened. "Chouji! I didn't know that you lived here!"

Akamichi Chouji, who was a plump sort of person with a warm smile and even warmer eyes, had been a primary school friend of Naruto's before he had moved away with his family.

Gaara suddenly found himself with an armful of baby while Naruto bounded forward in order to give Chouji an enormous hug.

Everybody else trailed behind, stomachs rumbling as they went.

"Dinner," Naruto said with a look of amazed contentment, "was amazing. I don't think I've ever eaten anything so good in my life."

The other men didn't say anything, but it was clear that Naruto's words spoke the truth for all of them.

Shikamaru let out a rumbling belch, patting his stomach appreciatively. "You're still the best, Chouji." He said, shifting slightly before standing up and walking out of the room. Sasuke and Neji stood up and hastily followed him, probably trying to avoid clean up duty. Gaara hastened to follow them, being nearly as big of a fan of cleaning as he was of shopping. Meaning – he wasn't willing to extend a kind hand regardless of the degree of pouty eyes thrown his way.

"Stop looking at me like that," he muttered to Naruto just before he disappeared out the doorway into the living room – where the others were already playing some video game.

Naruto sighed, sending an apologetic look to Chouji. "Let me go put Ryuu down for a nap, and I'll be right back to help you." He said.

"Don't worry about it." Chouji told him with a wide smile. "I'm very particular about my kitchen and how it's kept. I don't mind if you go and play the game with them. Shikamaru is quite good at programming them. He's already earned a small fortune from the last two he put out – not to mention I'm sure he'd like to know your input."

Chouji turned around from where he had been filling the sink to find that Naruto was already wrestling for possession of the video controllers. He had passed Ryuu into Gaara's surprised arms, and was sitting on top of Sasuke, whining for all he was worth.

AN: There was only one important story marker in this chapter. The rest was just character introduction and story bits that I will be able to use later. Again, notice the changes that I've added, basically with bits about Ryuu and such. Woot, woot.

--Sagi