Disclaimer: As always, these aren't my characters, and I realize that I'm using them without permission.

AN: Not noticing the fact that it took me almost three months to update (which is rather quick, considering my current track record), I'd like to present to you the third chapter of my wonderfully growing story. I'd like to make just one comment about my lateness – I have been developing a back story, which means the current story has changed a bit. I will be editing the first two chapters to make the story more stable with the back story I've created. Please notice the changes and make note of them. Now, go ahead an enjoy.

The Complex: By Sagi
Chapter 3

It had been about two weeks now, that Naruto and Ryuu had been living with Gaara. They had settled into a comfortable routine. Mornings were awkward – with Naruto rummaging around the kitchen before sighing and heating leftovers and eating them with minimal complaints – leaving Gaara to fend for himself – while at the same time warming a bottle of formula for his son. Gaara would leave for work at eight, leaving the blond to mope around the apartment – before deciding to clean the already spotless living spaces, go on a walk to familiarize himself with the area or to simply go back to sleep.

The blonds' afternoons were spent across the hall with Chouji and Shikamaru, the only two on the landings during the afternoons. Naruto – having decided that it would be better in the long run if he could at least cook a few basic meals – was taking cooking lessons from Chouji, sneaking in conversations in order to learn more about his new environment. After learning how to prepare this dish, or that one, and learning every way possible to annoy Sasuke and Neji, Naruto would hunt down Shikamaru, begging to see his new game and to play it just one more time.

Ryuu, on the other hand, would usually be abducted by the girl's one floor up, mainly because one of the girls living there eventually wanted to be a mother – and this was, apparently, good practice. It didn't matter that Ryuu didn't like women, and therefore cried whenever in her presence. All that Naruto cared about was the fact that he would probably go insane if he was forced to deal with Ryuu on a twenty-four hour basis, like he had been until he moved in with Gaara.

Evenings would be spent quietly, Ryuu usually going to bed rather early – not that he ever slept through the night – leaving Naruto and Gaara to either sit and watch an old movie – as the cable was out in the apartments for some technical reason – or talking with each other. Usually it was the former, because most conversations would eventually lead back to their almost unmentionable high school history – leaving them both uncomfortable.

"Naruto, why don't you get a job?" Shikamaru finally moaned, turning away from his computer where he was corresponding with the two other programmers that were working on their latest game. "You've spent two weeks here, whining about how you just take and take from Gaara. If you get a job, you can pay your own way." The man paused, thoughtful. "In fact, I know a place that's hiring right now. It's just busting tables, but the pay is good and the hours are manageable. I can give them a call if you like."

Naruto froze, the idea washing over him, with a backlash of consequences following. What would he do with Ryuu while he was as work? How would he manage to work if he was worrying about his son? Would it be a good idea? What would Gaara say to this?

The blond wandered off, much to Shikamaru's amusement, still deep in thought. With no reason not to call, Shikamaru did just that, and five minutes later had actually set up an interview for Naruto.

Later that night, the widowed father found out exactly what Gaara thought about him getting a job.

"It's about time you got a decent job. Iruka never let you get one during school, did he?"

At Naruto's shake of the head, the red head continued on.

"Much as it pains me to say it – Shikamaru's right, you have been complaining a lot lately. If you get a graveyard shift, I can take care of Ryuu while you're gone." The red head had then turned the page in his borrowed book and continued reading. On his lap, Ryuu was curled into himself, sleeping soundly.

So the blond had been stuck, and he had agreed. The job, at a diner within walking distance of his new humble abode, had been given to him with relative ease – only one setback with a few serious questions about his son, the nature of how he was raising him, and a few questions about what was being shown on the news.

Still, when all was said and done, Naruto would be working the late night shift which ended around four in the morning. A new schedule would need to be established, and Gaara would need to learn how to change a diaper, but it appeared that life was continuing on in a normal manner.

It didn't seem to quite connect to the young girl staring into an old photo that she held in her hand, that the eighteen year old girl and the two other boys smiling back at her were once herself and her two closest friends. This girl, though strong in her own ways, felt quite weak at the moment, not knowing quite what to do with herself, and the many questions and suspicions that she held.

Hyuuga Hinata sighed quietly, looking down at the phone in her other hand. She had been debating for the last hour or so, trying to convince herself one way or the other to contact one of her closest friends – Sabaku no Gaara. It wasn't going to be a personal call, to check and see if life was suiting her friend well. But rather, a call to see it Gaara had heard from the other boy in the photo. Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who was currently dominating every news channel for the abduction of a newborn baby before both disappeared completely.

Looking around her room, Hinata sighed again. There was not a scrap of anything that told an onlooker anything about her in this room. The bed – set against the wall – had a dark coverlet on it which hid any stains that might have occurred at any point in its usage. The floor was a polished hardwood that didn't ever have a trace of dust or scuffing on it. The walls were bare – despite Naruto's often gifts of posters and calendars to put up. Every thing he bought for her was put away secretly so that her mother would not steal it and burn it without her knowing. The only real life in her room usually existed in her closet. Because during her high school years she stored all of her books and pictures and journals among her clothes, and all of them were hidden so carefully that Hinata's mother would never find them.

Currently, however, stacks of boxes were revealed in her closet. A most were her own – as she was planning on moving out soon, but a good number of them were Naruto's. This was another reason why Hinata wanted to call Gaara and see if he had seen Naruto lately.

Hinata sighed again, casting her eyes away from the photo and instead looking towards the stacks of boxes that were currently occupying her otherwise empty bedroom. Her mother would be on her case soon, about getting rid of all of Naruto's things.

This was yet another thing Hinata was curious about. These things meant so much to Naruto – why hadn't he just taken them with him. The man had a car, she knew. It would have been easy to pack his boxes, his baby and himself into the car, rather than leaving it with her.

"Please, Hinata, could you just hold onto this stuff for a while? It's really important to me." Naruto's dim eyes looked pleadingly into her own confused orbs.

"Naruto, what's going on? Where are you going?"

"Please, Hinata?" His eyes wouldn't even meet hers anymore.

The usually quiet girl sighed, but she was unwilling to let her friend suffer so she agreed. "Help me get it into my room. I'll bring them to you when you're ready."

She received a giant hug for her efforts, and because of it, Hinata didn't regret her decision one bit.

Hinata frowned then, thinking about how unnerving Naruto's unannounced and virtually unexplained departure had really been. Perhaps there was something close to truth being displayed on the news for once. Without hesitating a second more, Hinata made her choice. She picked up her phone and began dialing.

"Hello?" A rather gruff and tired sounding voice snapped upon the second ring.

"Gaara? It's Hinata. Listen, I'm looking for Naruto. Is he there? Have you seen him at all in the last few weeks?"

Gaara's voice softened a bit at the panicked voice of his only other friend. "He's here... but he can't talk. He's got to run for work."

Of in the distance she could almost hear Naruto's voice, asking who was on the phone.

More importantly, to Hinata anyway, was the fact that Naruto got a job with all of the bad news coverage he was getting. "What!"

Reading the disbelief in her tone, Gaara explained. "He got the job before the news announcements came on, and the place he's working for heard his story – believes it, even – and promised to protect him until he sorted everything out. Though, I think he told them everything because the cable here is out, and all televisions in the area are simply fuzz."

"Oh, that's good, I guess..." At least he's not making it too easy for people to find him, the girl thought quietly to herself. "Listen, I'm going to visit, do you mind?"

"All I have left is the couch..."

"That's fine. I'm going to leave today-"

"Right now?" Gaara suddenly cut her off, sounding startled.

"Yes, I've got a bunch of Naruto's things that I want to drop off. My mother is getting... upset about the mess it's making of the house."

"Meaning there are neatly packed boxes sitting in your closet and you left the door opened?"

"Well... yes."

"What is it?" Gaara asked, now sounding curious.

"It's his journals. All of them, including the scrapbooks, the videos and the computer. And my things as well, I'm looking for a place to move into."

"..." Hinata could her Gaara's sigh, however quiet it was.

"I'll see you in a few hours?" The girl asked, hopeful.

"Alright, I'll be watching for you then."

"Bye, see you in a few hours."

The shy girl had just barely hung up her phone when her mother barged into her small, bare room. Looking nothing like Hinata herself, her mother was a very cold and a very unhappy woman. Unhappy in the sense that her husband – Hinata's father – had left her with a three year old child while he himself pursued a more homosexual way of life before dying in a car accident only a few months later. So the woman remained bitter towards the only outlet she had, her daughter.

"I thought I told you to get rid of all of this junk!" The severe woman shouted, somehow seeing an overflowing mess instead of the neat piles of boxes in the closet and not the rest of the bare room.

"I am, mother. I'm going to drive it to storage in just a few moments." Hinata was proud that her stutter didn't return to her, as it so often did when she was in her mother's presence. She even managed to look confident as she said it, though that wasn't what she was feeling at all. Years of verbal and physical abuse did that to a person.

"Where are you taking it? It belongs to that blond brat doesn't it? The one you mooned pathetically over during high school? I heard he's a rapist and a murderer now. Such a nasty little boy, that blond is."

"No." Hinata said, lying and thinking quickly and feeling a spark of anger deep in her belly at her mother's remarks. "It's Gaara's."

"That insomniac freak? I never could stand him, the way he glared at the world – and that tattoo he had was just horrible. I thought I told you to cut ties with him years ago!"

That spark suddenly flared into a surge of anger that threatened to overwhelm Hinata's small body. Started by both the unfair judgment her mother displayed towards her two only friends and also at the misdirected anger that she herself was receiving from her mother. Angry and hurt, the girl stood up, her back towards her mother. But instead of saying anything, she simply began moving the boxes out of her closet and into the hall.

"I'm driving to Sunagakure tonight." She said stiffly. "I'm not coming back. Don't worry – I won't call you or contact you at all. I'm taking everything with me."

Hinata then dragged her boxes out of her bedroom and into the car she bought thanks to the money left to her from her father – exactly half of the Hyuuga fortune – her mother had wailed about it for years. Then, after making many similarly silent trips to add Naruto's things as well, she left – departing with only one final thing to say to her mother.

"I'm so glad father left his entire fortune to me, this way I can live on my own without needing any support, even with my chosen career of journalism."

The apartment that they lived in was simple, if such a word could be used to describe anything even related to something these men were associated with. The main room was rather plain looking, only furnished by a television – which required a suitable couch and matching end tables – and a computer, which of course needed a desk and a comfortable chair before it could be used.

Only the barest necessities sat on the desk, such as a box full of pens, pencils, scrap paper and paperclips. Next to it – looking only slightly out of place – was a jar almost full of change. On the couch end tables, a few personal things had been placed, making the apartment look lived in. A few pictures of only one of the men were lined up on one table, while a simple hair brush lay on the other. The only decoration on the wall was a very beautiful Asian landscape scroll. These were the only few things that set it apart from other apartments. Just like others, it came equip with a soft, light blue carpet, white walls, a heater just outside the bathroom door a window that currently displayed the nighttime world and two doors leading into other – probably more private and intimate – settings.

The only sound was the almost distant hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Nothing moved.

The front door opened, and then closed with a firm bang. A quiet jingle of keys sounded as they were tossed into a small basket by the door. And a young man, looking tired after a hard day of work and still in his uniform walked slowly into the main room. He moved into the bathroom, splashing his face with cool water to wake himself up and then running his hands through his long hair, before moving into one of the bedrooms. He reemerged a few moments later, this time dressed in a pair of comfortable looking black shorts and an off-setting khaki colored jersey shirt.

Hyuuga Neji then settled down on the couch, turned on the television and sighed heavily in disappointment. His stomach growled and he half wished that his roommate had returned from his own place of work – bearing dinner.

Instead of complaining – or even getting up to make something for himself – Neji simply began flipping through the various channels of fuzz. He began grumbling that the cable should be repaired already, because watching fuzz wasn't half as entertaining as watching people make fools of themselves on national television. Still grumbling, he stumbled upon a local news station that – though also slightly fuzzy – was also at least holding a steady picture and clear audio. The news castor was currently blabbering on about how the city was cutting funding for programs that receiving low marks in their adequacy scores.

"Seems like they should do the opposite," Neji murmured to himself, thinking of everything he had been taught in his public relations classes and his law classes while finishing up his major at the local University.

An interview soon followed the report, with a librarian and a volunteer program specialist trying to explain why the reason for their low scores were because of the already low funding that they were receiving – due to "lack of interest" or, lack of city funding, as the librarian so put it. The debate roared on as city officials attempted to explain themselves and their victims tried to change their minds. It seemed obvious to Neji – a simple bystander – that nobody was going to change their minds, but on and on it went until both sides were red in the face.

"The news?" A slightly nasally voice spoke up, right next to the long haired mans ear – causing said man to jump slightly in surprise.

"Sasuke? I didn't hear you come in-" Neji said, trying to cover up his surprise, though it was obvious even to him that he was doing a bad job at it.

"A skill I'm quite proud of, actually," Sasuke replied, almost smugly before he sat down next to Neji and took a light hold of his unbound hair. "May I?" He then asked in an obscure way."

Neji shrugged in his own uncaring manner, but his heart rate sped up anyway, belying his calm exterior.

With permission granted Sasuke grabbed the hairbrush from the small table next to the couch and began gently brushing the long mass of silky black hair that had been holding his fascination since he first laid eyes on Neji. When he was finished brushing, he would begin to braid it – a skill he had perfected using Neji's hair only.

Though he never said anything and Neji was sure that Sasuke didn't realize this, but the younger mans long hair fixation began and ended with Neji. The Uchiha had once told him that he liked long hair on boys – though he also enjoyed short hair on girls. And in all their time of being friends and roommates, Neji had never seen Sasuke glance at any other head of hair beside his own. This was something that the Hyuuga was proud of – because it had originally been his crush on Sasuke that had influenced his choice to grow out his hair in the first place.

"So – what's up in the news?" Sasuke asked, pausing in his brushing to peer into Neji's vacant-looking pale eyes.

"The funding is being cut," Neji answered, feeling a good discussion coming on. "They're saying that the adequacy testing is too low and such." He continued talking, explaining everything he had just watched in the debate and his opinions on it.

Sasuke listened intently and it wasn't long before he got up and retrieved two boxes of take out food and returned to more actively participate in the discussion.

The slight feeling of tension that came from the treatment of Neji's hair intensified as their discussion changed from what was going on in the city to what was going on in their lives. Neji informed Sasuke about how he was receiving new – and more importantly, female – clients at the gym simply because of his looks. And Sasuke informed him that the restaurant stats were up because – apparently – he worked there and brought in all the customers. Both undercurrents to the conversation were testaments that both men were very good looking and both of them were single.

Neither man would admit to liking anybody though – however much it wasn't true.

However, before anything important could be said, Neji's attention was suddenly back on the television as he eyes caught sight of a very familiar person being displayed on the screen.

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto," the news anchor was saying, "and he's wanted in Konohagakure for the suspected murder of Haruno Sakura and the kidnapping of this girl's infant son, Hakuryuu - almost three months ago. While the case was reported nearly three weeks ago, authorities are only now taking the case seriously. The grandparents claim that Uzumaki stalked their daughter for years before finally raping her and killing her just after she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. They stated that they were trying to claim the rights to raising their granddaughter when Uzumaki – spouting lies about the situation – took the baby and ran."

The television fuzzed slightly before retuning to the semi-clear picture.

"There were reports from the hospital that Haruno Sakura wasn't showing any physical signs of rape or any abuse at all. Nurses even report that Haruno wanted Uzumaki to be present when she gave birth and that she wanted Uzumaki to take care of her baby as much as she could. While obscure, these remarks from the hospital staff that night add an interesting twist to the situation."

The television fuzzed again, making the next few words hard to understand before it returned to its faux-clarity.

"This is what the grieving parents - now grandparents - have to say."

The screen cut from the news anchor to a video of a couple. A very angry looking woman, looking hassled almost that she had to make such a statement, and a very depressed and tired looking man, a good many years older than his wife.

"That boy," the woman began, "is absolutely despicable! He was never at school - so you know he flunked out - and when he was able to go he was always harassing my poor Sakura! He couldn't keep a decent job for the life of him - dirty orphan scum he was! And he always hung with the creepiest crowd - that Sabaku kid and the daughter of the gay-"

The man suddenly spoke up, cutting off his wife in her tirade of hate. "We just want our grandchild to be safe, and with all of this doubt and shadow on Uzumaki's past and his relationship with our daughter, we don't believe that Hakuryuu is safe at all. Please, if you know anything that could help - call the authorities."

The video ended and the news anchor was returned, looking grim.

"We've just had a call from our own local authorities," he said, "that Uzumaki might be right here, in Sunagakure. The mother of one of Uzumaki's gang buddies called and said that her daughter was planning a trip to drop off a bunch of the kidnappers things tonight. However, where and when the delivery will take place she didn't know."

The news then broke for a commercial, during which Sasuke turned off the television.Silence filled the apartment living room, with disbelief hidden somewhere in both boys.

"But Naruto said that-" Neji began, before realizing that Naruto had never explained why he had so unexpectedly moved in with Gaara. He stood up and moved around the couch, pacing - while thinking about what he had just heard. It couldn't be true - but it did explain a good portion of truth.

Naruto had never talked about his past – that Neji knew about – but he certainly was grieving some personal loss, which meant he couldn't be a stalking-raping sociopath. He wouldn't take so much care of his son - whom was named Ryuu, not Hakuryuu – if he didn't love him. Besides, he had known Gaara for a good long time now and he knew the redhead couldn't stand trash characters.

He explained all of this and more to Sasuke, who listened quietly to Neji's reasons before suggesting that perhaps they should go directly to the source and ask Naruto before assuming anything at all.

His own reasoning and Sasuke's suggestion – however brief - had both calmed down Neji and convinced him and Sasuke that they did indeed want to hear the whole story. Yet, while they got ready to go – Neji needing to use the bathroom first – there was light knocking on the door.

Sasuke, because he was closer, went to answer it, thinking that perhaps it was Chouji with his latest mealtime experiment. To his surprise – which he didn't bother to cover up – the person on the other side of the door wasn't Chouji holding a nondescript tupper-wear box, but a young girl who almost looked almost exactly like his roommate.

"Oh," the girl said her eyes also wide in surprise,

"A-ano... I m-must have gotten the w-wrong door…" she began to bow, an apology on her lips when Sasuke cut her off.

"On the contrary," Sasuke said, taking a step forward and staring at the girl in wonder. She brought her hands up to her chest in an almost protective manner and began playing with her fingertips. He noticed this unusual trait, and also that she wore the same flawless pale skin that Neji trademarked, the same thick black hair and the exact shade of her beautiful pale lavender eyes. "It's quite amazing that you picked this door."

"Oi, Sasuke," Neji's voice called from behind him somewhere. "I thought we were going over to Gaara's – who are you talking to?"

Sasuke paused a moment, thinking at first that the girl would offer him a name, but when none came he simple called back: "It's one of your fan girls."

Both the girl in front of him and Neji behind him remained silent for a second before erupting with noises of surprise.
"Eh!" The girl asked, both taking a step back and peeking curiously over Sasuke's shoulder into the apartment.

Neji appeared then, his face arranged in an irritated expression. However, upon seeing the girls face – the look quickly melted into shock. "You..." he began, but in the shock he was unable to speak anything more eloquent such as: "wow, you look a whole lot like me, perhaps we're related?" As it was "you" would suffice for the moment.

The girls expression remained openly shocked as well. She, however, seemed to understand how they were related because a tiny whisper escaped her lips, which she instantly covered up with her hands. "...Neji-nii-san..."

Both Neji and Sasuke blinked in surprise at her whisper. "You know me?" Neji asked, just as Sasuke questioned her with, "You know him?"

The girl slowly removed her hands from her lips. "Y-yes, of course. But I'm supposed to – ah – meet somebody," she checked the watch on her wrist, "an, an hour ago. I'm very s-sorry, but I've got to go..."

The door next to Neji and Sasuke's apartment opened and Gaara walked out of his own abode, holding his phone in one hand and keeping the other tucked in his pocket. "Hinata!" He said, sounding annoyed but relieved. "I expected you an hour ago!"

The girl's – Hinata's – eyes lit up and she moved, almost faster than the eyes could follow. "Gaara!" she cried out, "I'm sorry I'm late!" Hinata reappeared behind Gaara, with her arms wrapped around the red head – looking at him closely and trying to detect any difference with the boy she knew and the man in front of her while at the same time trying to avoid the interested gaze of the two men staring at them. "Where's Hakuryuu?"

"Sleeping." Gaara told her, reverting back to his normal self and delivering one word answers. He also noticed the interested looks of Neji and Sasuke and said, in a forced formal voice. "This is Hyuuga Hinata, a close friend of mine from childhood."

"Since childhood," Hinata corrected, still hiding behind Gaara.

Neji and Sasuke just stared with widening smirks on their faces. They had never seen a girl so willing to even talk to this man, let alone hug him and chatter with him. Gaara, noticing their looks, glared hotly at them.

"I never knew you had so many friends!" Neji said, still smirking.

Gaara remained silent, a frown fixed on his face and his eyes narrowed.

"Ano, Gaara... could you help me bring my, my things up from my car? It's only that – I've brought everything..."

"You moved out?" Gaara asked, surprised. He thought that Hinata's mother would keep her locked up for years, trying to milk the inheritance out of her daughter.

"Well…" the small girl hedged, "I- I got angry at the way mother was judging you a-and Naruto." She stood up a little bit taller, a tiny bit of confidence chasing away her stutter. "That's why it took me so long, I had to pack everything and load it into my car."

"We'll help." Neji said from behind them, watching their interaction with open interest. "I'd like to hear about our relation, as you seem to know something about it, so we'll help and you can tell us what we'd like to hear."

"Let me check on Ryuu first, and I'll help too," Gaara told her. "I'm also thinking that my curious neighbors wanted a talk with me and Naruto…" His voice trailed off and Hinata looked worried.

"So they... know?" There was a tiny hesitation – like she was about to stutter her words through her nervousnes.

Gaara remained silent for a moment, as if giving his neighbors a chance to answer for him. A chance that Neji took up, almost instantly

"Yes," the long haired man said. "We know about Naruto.

AN: Please remember the changes that will be coming soon, they're important and they change the story – a lot. Also, I apologize for my Hinata being a little OOC, but I figure that being friends with Gaara and Naruto would give her a little confidence, even if she still stutters a little. Note that everything that happened is important, and any untied plot stings will be connected…before the end of the story.

Also look out for the back story, which will be uploaded eventually. I promise.

--Sagi