ii.

By the time they reached the doorway, Gaara had ground out an audibly uncomfortable "hello." The pink-haired girl, affectionately referred to as Sakura by Naruto, smiled kindly and returned the salutation. The other, however, looked bored and only gave a menial nod of his head. Gaara neither liked nor disliked the Uchiha, as he would come to refer to him as, but his cool demeanor certainly didn't help Gaara smother the immense discomfort he was currently feeling. He had always felt like an outsider, most of the villagers in his own village frequently made sure of that, but to be an outsider there was also to be feared. Gaara had undergone an incredible change throughout the years, his fury had nearly dissipated and his nature became so incredibly private that the villagers no longer feared him, but still they remained indifferent. Which to him was an improvement, by then avoiding him was merely muscle memory to most.

But in Konoha, where no one knew who he was or the person he used to be, he stood there looking like a fool, blushing and stumbling over his words. Embarrassed was too light a word for what he was feeling. Suddenly, the quiet disregard of his own village felt inviting. Naruto had removed his arm from Gaara's shoulder and was now walking with his hands tucked behind his head. He was rambling on about something; Gaara had stopped paying attention when the blood pounding in his ears became too loud. Luckily, because Naruto was so engrossed in his story, Gaara managed to fall back a few steps. He moved far enough to take a deep, unnoticed breath inwards, just to ground himself for the moment at least. He caught his name being spoken as he worked to smooth out his clothes Naruto had ruffled.

"What about you, Gaara?" The redhead looked at Naruto abruptly and frowned, Naruto was too good at being friendly.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you." Naruto stalled so that Gaara could catch up with them. Awkwardly, Gaara touched at the hair that lay at the nape of his neck. "Could you repeat that?"

Naruto gave a light chuckle. "Geez, you talk about as much as Sasuke, huh? I asked if you had plans for after class today?" Gaara instinctively looked over to the raven-haired boy he was being compared to. The latter walked forward as if he hadn't heard a thing. Gaara shook his head very slightly.

"No, I was probably going to go back to my apartment to review the textbooks."

Sakura gave a little huff and teased, "as if Naruto has any idea what that means."

"I review my textbooks too," Naruto pouted, but quickly found the positive energy he was made up of and channeled it back. "But it's the first day guys," he said addressing the group. "What's there to review? Anyways Gaara, we were all planning to go to the karaoke bar after class, us and a few others. Since you're not doing anything, you should come with us!"

Any blood left in Gaara's face drained. Karaoke bar? Gaara repeated inwardly, as if hearing it once wasn't bad enough. He swallowed nervously and looked off, thinking rapidly. He had made a fatal error in using his textbooks as an excuse. Naruto was right, there wasn't much to review at all and anything worth reviewing, Gaara had already covered his freshman year at Suna's university. Could he just say no? That karaoke was too loud and expressive for him, even though he'd never set foot anywhere near a karaoke bar, that could work, right? But mid-thought Naruto struck him once more.

"I won't take no for an answer so that settles that, Gaara, you're coming out with us tonight." He gave a cheeky smile. Gaara tried his best to rearrange his face into something resembling a smile, but at most he accomplished was a grimace. Like most of Gaara's reactions, Naruto remained completely unmoved.

The rest of the day went by far too quickly for Gaara's liking. As if the universe knew how much Gaara was dreading the evening's events, it quickened its pace just to see how Gaara would manage it this time. He drummed his fingers lightly against the desk, his jaw resting softly in his other perched hand. Of the five classes he'd had after his homeroom class, two of them were with Naruto, one of them with Sasuke, and one of them with Sakura. Unlike Naruto's natural inclination to make conversation, Sakura and Sasuke behaved quite differently. Sakura wasn't nearly as outgoing as Naruto but was friendly enough to sit beside Gaara in the single class they shared. They hardly spoke but it didn't seem to bother her, in fact it felt quite natural. The only relief Gaara felt throughout the day was during his class with Sasuke, who didn't necessarily go out of his way to sit apart from Gaara, but chose a seat based solely on where he wanted to sit. Gaara did the same, a few seats away from Sasuke. This being the only moment of privacy Gaara experienced, it felt like a breath of fresh air and helped to ease his taut muscles.

But that relief was quickly extinguished when the day came to an end and Sakura and Naruto stood outside their classroom door, chatting with each other while they waited. Sasuke walked towards them with his hands in his pockets, looking dour. "You guys ready?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"I'm going home," Sasuke said firmly. He waved a hand over his shoulder as he continued walking right past the two. Gaara watched on enviously.

"What? But you said you would come!" Naruto called out after him. Sasuke ignored him and kept going. "That bastard," Naruto muttered. "Too cool to hang out with his friends, well I see how it is, next time he wants to go do something I'll tell him the same thing."

"He'd probably enjoy that," Sakura said flatly, watching as Sasuke turned the corner. "But we're still in, right Gaara?" She turned towards the redhead with a sweet smile and Gaara, per usual, tripped over his words.

"Ah, well I-"

"Not you too!" Naruto whipped around and glared at Gaara, throwing him off course immediately. Was he angry? This was the first time he'd had a negative reaction to something Gaara said, or rather didn't say.

"I mean, if you insist…" This seemed to be good enough for him as the blonde regained his composure and slapped his hand to Gaara's back.

"That's the spirit. Now let's go, I bet the others are already there."

"Ino's bringing the new girl, have you met her? She's pretty cute Naruto," Sakura said suggestively. The blonde frowned and looked up.

"Not interested, she's not really my type." Sakura then turned to Gaara and winked.

"Well maybe Gaara's interested, I mean you're both new, you'd probably have a few things in common." Gaara sucked in his breath to mutter something dismissive before Sakura could get any ideas, but Naruto beat him to the punch.

"Nah," he drawled on. "I don't think she's Gaara's type either. Maybe you should ask Sasuke." His voice tilted with a slight mischievous inflection.

"Don't be absurd," Sakura snapped. "She's definitely not his type either." This seemed to be where the conversation ended, much to Gaara's relief. He looked over at Naruto as inconspicuously as he could. Was this what having a friend was like? Naruto didn't know much, if anything, about Gaara but that didn't stop him from speaking like he did. An unfamiliar feeling struck Gaara in the chest and instinctively he placed his hand there. Watching Naruto out of the corner of his eye, Gaara felt considerably more at ease. He almost wished it had just been the two of them, maybe then Gaara could comfortably explore this new social experience. Naruto seemed like a safe friend to have, it was no wonder he had so many of his own. For him it was just natural and despite his flaws, he drew people in with it. Gaara felt something akin to awe, so much so that he had a difficult time placing what the feeling he was having was. It could have been admiration, or respect, either way it filled Gaara with a new sense of understanding, one that told him that as long as Naruto was there he'd survive the evening.

It was something to hold onto at least.

When they approached the bar, they also came upon a rather large group of people. Naruto and Sakura greeted them with enthusiasm. After Naruto had boldly introduced Gaara to the group (and subsequently laughed at Gaara's reaction after he stuttered a weak greeting), they all moved inside together. Gaara did his best to hang back but Naruto, putting his arm back around Gaara's shoulder, fixed him up front with him. There seemed to be little point in resisting. The bar itself was bright and loud, as the other's moved to order their drinks, Gaara realized that him and another small girl were the only people under the legal drinking age. He didn't drink in the first place, but he asked for a water anyways just to have something to hold. They moved into a separate room and after ordering snacks, all got comfortable on the vinyl couch. Naruto had chosen to sit next to Gaara. He felt comfortable with that, as long as Naruto didn't insist on making Gaara go up and sing (which was out of the question, try as he might there was no way Naruto could coerce him into doing that).

Two hours in and Gaara had finally let himself lean back into the couch. There were so many people no one was focused on him, they chatted amongst each other and there were plenty of people eager to sing that there was never a moment the vacancy needed to be filled. Naruto was on his third drink but appeared to handle alcohol well, despite the flush of color on his cheeks, he acted just as he usually did. It was nearly three hours in when Gaara felt his back begin to ache. He placed a hand on Naruto's knee and leaned in to speak over the noise. "I think I'll be going home now, I'm feeling a little tired."

The blonde nodded and turned to Sakura, saying something into her ear before he stood and motioned for Gaara to follow. Confused, Gaara did as he was gestured anyways. Once they had exited the building, Naruto stretched and gave a wide yawn. "You didn't have to come all the way out here," Gaara said.

"All those drinks made me sleepy," he said, surely sounding like he was tired. "I'm ready to head home too. Besides, it's getting dark out and I don't want you getting lost or something, this place is pretty big y'know?" Gaara wanted to insist he'd be fine but felt like the words would be lost on the blonde anyways, so he sufficed with a stiff nod. Feeling like he needed to say something, he softly said thank you. They began walking in the same direction, Gaara didn't ask if this was intentional or not but he wondered for how much longer they'd be in each other's company. He was itching to be alone. "Thanks for coming with us tonight," Naruto said suddenly, he rubbed at his neck sheepishly. "I kind of forced you to go, sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm not used to being around so many people, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be." Gaara replied honestly, he wanted to be true to what he told himself earlier, that he was going to be himself and they could either take it or leave it. It was true the night wasn't a complete disaster, but it was definitely something he wasn't too keen on trying again any time soon.

Naruto gave a soft laugh, much to Gaara's surprise. "Yeah, it might have been a little much for your first day. Next time let's just do something, the two of us, how does that sound?"

Gaara stilled, just the…two of them? Had he accidentally said something earlier when he thought he'd been thinking it, or maybe Naruto was better at reading people than he gave way. Or maybe, Gaara thought quietly, Naruto wanted the same thing he did. "I would like that," Gaara said in his low, gentle voice.

Naruto, with his rose-tinted cheeks, looked over at Gaara with a soft expression on his face. For the first time Gaara didn't feel like Naruto was there out of obligation, but because he earnestly wanted to be there. Because he wanted to know Gaara, on a deeper level than most. This thought was reinforced as they walked in a comfortable silence. For a moment Gaara hadn't thought it possible, Naruto seemed like an endless stream of consciousness. But now he was content, comfortable with Gaara in the evening glow of a sun that had only set minutes ago. Birds chattered above them and soft hum of village activity blocks away drifted over on the breeze. Gaara pulled his scarf over his nose as a particularly frigid draft overcame him.

"It's much colder here than in Suna," he said, suddenly breaking the silence. It felt like a natural move to make, he'd hardly thought about it before he spoke. And just as naturally, Naruto picked the conversation up.

"If you think this is bad, wait until winter. Last year my heater went out in the middle of December," Naruto gave a short husky laugh as he recalled the event. "The school didn't believe me when I'd had a cold for over two weeks straight. I really thought that was gonna be the end of me."

Gaara gave way to a small smile, imagining Naruto suffering the results of all his many excuses. "I'm afraid I might meet the same fate, it's getting colder every day, I'm not acclimating quick enough."

"A big, hot bowl of ramen when you start feeling bad will knock that right out," Naruto said brightly. He hummed and then looked to Gaara, his face lit up with giddy, young excitement. "What about tomorrow? Do you have any plans?"

"You mean…for dinner?" There it was again, that sensation unfolding within him. He could feel it blooming like a rose, petal after petal just falling open until completely bared. His hand again naturally gravitated to the core of it. "I can do that," he said both for Naruto and himself. They were words he needed to hear himself say to ensure he really meant it. Within his answer there was no trace of anything ingenuine.

"Great, it's a date." Naruto screwed up his face for a second and then shook his head. "Well, not like a date date, er, you know what I mean."

They continued to walk, falling in and out of silence. It wasn't until they both came to a stop at the corner of Gaara's apartment that he realized Naruto had walked him the entire way home. "I hope you're not far from here," he said, unsure if this had been a mistake or not.

"What are you talking about? I'm right over there." He threw his thumb over his shoulder towards the older building sitting on the corner.

"How funny," Gaara said, dropping his head with a smile. "So am I, right across the way." He turned and pointed at his own building. "I suppose this makes us neighbors."

Naruto looked thrilled. "Hey, we can walk to class in the morning and oh, if you ever want to study this'll be way easier than going to a café or something. Everyone else lives on the other side of town so having you so close will be-" He was interrupted by a wide yawn, one that brought tears to eyes. "-really nice." He finished. Gaara gave a small laugh that was more of a hum at the back of his throat. Likely the closest thing to a laugh he'd had in many years, the action felt strange and yet it had naturally come from him.

"Sleep well, Naruto," Gaara said, meeting Naruto's sleepy face with a well meaning shadow of a smile. The blonde returned the smile in full.

"You too, Gaara."