Chapter 23

Gaara's lips tightened forming a thin line as he considered Naruto's words. Then he spoke softly, blocking out the fact that his sister was behind him and Sasuke was still holding Naruto. He focused solely on the boy he had hurt.

"You wanna know what happened in Suna?" he asked. When Naruto indicated his agreement, Gaara sighed and nodded. "I owe you an explanation." He took a deep breath to steady his resolve then began recounting his tale, detail by painful detail. "I admit…I had gone into our relationship intending to use you. There were so many rumors going around about you, telling fantastic stories of what a crazy, unstoppable fighter you were. And I was trying to make my way up to be the head of a gang but being new, I needed help…"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew Gaara had been part of a gang but never knew how he got to lead it. Naruto didn't know this at all. With every word Gaara spoke, his heart broke a little bit more. Subconsciously, he leaned back into Sasuke and the Uchiha let him.

"I had intended to use those rumors and that image of you to help me. Those people who would randomly attack me were from other gangs trying to defend their territory… you didn't know. You just thought they were random muggers or attackers and you defended me, fought all my fights, when really you were claiming enemy gangs' territories for me…" Gaara sighed and looked away, feeling the guilt building inside him, overwhelming him.

"That night…when you overheard my brother and me talking…" he shook his head and looked back at Naruto with sincerity in his eyes. "You weren't supposed to hear that…"

"Obviously," Naruto choked out, holding back all his tears as he realized exactly to what extent he had been used. "You were laughing at me… joking around about how easy it was to 'acquire' me and trick me…easy to pull my strings…"

"No, Naruto… I said those things because I couldn't show weakness in front of the gang… you must not have seen them but Kankuro and I were there to clean out the last of the territory and I had to frighten them… But I was cleaning out the territory so Kankuro could take over for me. Naruto… I was quitting the gang… I wanted to quit so I could be with you. You captured my heart, Naruto. With your eagerness, your sincerity, your willingness to protect others and put them before yourself… the bright way you look at the world… how could I not fall for you?"

Silence stretched out, blanketing the group of 4 and weighing them down. These were heavy words… Gaara was desperate for Naruto's love. "You…you left so suddenly that I…I knew you had heard. I knew you found out what had happened. I wasn't able to come and explain or show you just how much you meant to me. Then Temari had told me that you had come into her restaurant asking for a job and she asked me about what happened. I told her and she felt bad for the both of us so…she hired you and kept updating me about you so that I knew you were safe and taken care of…" Gaara finally finished, explaining everything.

Sasuke was silent and tense. Man, he thought he had problems but… his black eyes looked down slightly at the blonde mop of hair that was pressed against his chest. Naruto… he never realized how bad the kid actually had it. And he didn't realize just how terrible Gaara was. Yes, there was that time that Gaara had screwed Sasuke over on a deal so Sasuke was terribly angry and upset but… learning about all this opened the Uchiha's eyes. And despite his usual uncaring and disinterest towards others, Sasuke inexplicably found himself learning more and more about Naruto than he had ever intended.

"Naruto?" Gaara murmured tentatively, stepping towards the silent Uzumaki.

Sasuke squeezed Naruto gently in reassurance and waited with baited breath, like Gaara. Waiting for his answer. There was no way Naruto would forgive Gaara for this. Right? If the same thing had happened to Sasuke, he knew he would never forgive him.

"Gaara you…" then, surprisingly, Naruto gave a small laugh and finally took a step forwards, out of Sasuke's arms. "Gaara, you've always been such a big part of my life. I learned a lot while I was with you and I did love you…"

Sasuke's heart seemed to sink with these words. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear any more. Yet, he stayed silent and still and watched Naruto intently.

"But you've always been afraid of change… you have always been incredibly possessive and you don't let things go. You need to let go of your fear and step outside your little territory, Gaara. Experience new things. There is a whole world out there waiting for you. I'm just not a part of it… things happen for a reason. I think we were meant to be together at that point in time but our paths won't cross again. Not like that," Naruto finally spoke, his voice growing with confidence with every word he spoke.

"I loved you, Gaara, and nothing will take that away. But my love for you has changed."

It was Gaara's turn to feel his heart sink. That was it? After all of that, after everything… his love had changed? So there was no way for him to get his lover back? "Naruto, I…" he wasn't even sure what to say to that. But Naruto held up his hand to forestall any objections he would have had.

"I forgive you, Gaara… I do. But you need to learn how to show emotions and let go of things… including me."

Sasuke blinked in shock. Naruto still forgave him? That was just preposterous! How could he forgive Gaara so easily? Naruto was definitely stronger than he was in that aspect… Sasuke felt a whole new level of respect for the blonde.

"Great, well, now that we have all that sorted… Naruto, you're late for work…get inside," Temari jerked her thumb behind her to the restaurant. Naruto wiped at his eyes again to get rid of the tear stains on his tanned cheeks before he smiled and headed inside without a backwards glance.

"Well, that was eventful…" a sultry voice sounded behind Sasuke. He knew that voice.

"How long have you been standing there?" he demanded from his older brother. Gaara said goodbye to Temari and left and Temari went back inside the restaurant, leaving the Uchiha brothers alone outside.

"Oh, the whole time. I saw how your dear friend ran outside and into your arms," Itachi replied smoothly, coming to stand beside Sasuke with a smirk. "I couldn't help but notice brother that you never pushed him away and you never retracted your arms until he moved away… is it possible that you care for your class mate more than you are letting on?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied and headed into the restaurant finally, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks betrayed his feelings…Apparently, he had a lot of thinking to do. Like why he was elated at the fact that Naruto didn't want Gaara in a romantic way…

…

"Naruto, you look happy today. Well… happier than usual. What's the occasion?" Kiba asked suspiciously the next morning at school.

Naruto grinned and shrugged. "I learned something new. And I managed to get something off my chest and out of the way so I feel a lot better," Naruto replied. He was indeed feeling better since he learned about the 'why' behind Gaara's betrayal.

"Well, that's great. But uh, I gotta ask… you've also been blushing every time Sasuke walks by… did something happen that I need to know about?" Kiba asked, feeling his protective instincts kick in.

Naruto hesitated and looked away, "Uh… I dunno. Things happened so fast and I was really distracted but… I think… I might have…possibly, maybe, kinda-sorta, but I'm not quite sure-ouch!" Kiba hit him on the head.

"Get to it already!"

The blonde pouted and rubbed his head. "I might have run into Sasuke last night and I think I kinda…leaned into him and let him hold me?"

Kiba blinked once. Then twice. Then three times as he considered what his friend had said. "What?"

Naruto sighed and hung his head, "Last night, I got to work and Gaara was there…"

"What?!"

"And he was talking with my manager. So I asked what was going on and he said that the manager was his sister…"

"What?!"

"I got upset and ran outside and into Sasuke's arms…"

"What?!"

"And I was distracted with Gaara as he finally explained why he hurt me back in Suna and the entire time I was leaning against Sasuke and he…well he never pushed me or let me go till I moved away so…"

"WHAT?!"

"Then after it was all resolved, I went to work, Gaara went away, Sasuke sat in a different section and I dunno…" Naruto shrugged, "Things went back to normal I guess."

Kiba face palmed and was close to ripping his hair out. Apparently he missed quite a lot. But… that also explained a lot too. "So…What happened with Gaara then?" the brunette inquired curiously.

Naruto shrugged again and opened the classroom door, "I told him my love for him had changed and he had to move on."

Kiba nodded, trying to absorb all this new information. Well… that meant there was one less pervert to protect the idiot from! That made his job easier!

…

The red-head was quite sad. After all this time, he was finally able to track Naruto down and see him face to face. Finally able to explain what had actually happened and confess his love for him! Just to be shot down and told to let go and move on? So actually, sad wasn't the right word. He was downright depressed.

So after his friend got let out of school, Gaara went to find refuge at his house. "So, tell me, what's got you so upset?" Neji asked, sitting beside Gaara on the bed in his room.

The teen sighed and lay back on the bed, his legs dangling from the side. "I talked to Naruto…"

Neji's interest was immediately peaked. From the fiasco at his party a week ago, he could tell that Gaara and Naruto had some kind of crazy history together. He had just never had a chance to ask his Suna friend about it. Now was his chance to find out just what was going on and to determine if Gaara was a threat or not.

Though, judging from the depressed state he was in, Neji deemed it fairly safe that Gaara was not in the race to run for Naruto.

"About what?" he asked, trying not to come off too much as nosy.

"About what happened to us back in Suna."

"Ok… what exactly did happen in Suna? At the party it was obvious something had happened between you two…" Neji urged, his eyes looking over his friends' lithe body and face.

"I used him. I used him to fight my battles for me and he found out but… he ran before I could tell him how much I loved him. He ran before I could tell him I was quitting the gang to be with him…"

Oh dear… that was quite complex. A big problem too. He resented Gaara a little bit for putting Naruto through that but at the same time he didn't. Gaara clearly regretted his actions and wanted to make it up to his ex lover. And if it wasn't for Gaara messing up and chasing Naruto away, he never would have come here and met Neji!

"He walked into work last night and caught me talking with Temari so he found out she was my sister and that she had been keeping tabs on him for me… things blew up…I finally explained myself to him but…"

"He didn't forgive you?" Neji questioned, examining the pained expression on Gaara's pale face.

Gaara shook his head, locking eyes with Neji. "No, he forgave me. But he told me to let go. To move on. That our paths wouldn't cross like that again. He said his love for me had changed. And to make things worse, Uchiha was there. Saw the whole thing. He was holding Naruto the whole time…"

Neji and Gaara stared at each other, each thinking on the scenario. Gaara looking for advice and support. Neji looking for sincerity and silently rejoicing in the fact that Naruto didn't want Gaara. In that moment though, despite his mind being on his crush, he couldn't help the pang of longing that coursed through him. Looking at Gaara, he pitied him but… much more than that… understood him, felt a closeness he didn't know he could feel for him.

Then Gaara broke the tense silence with an insecure whisper. "What are you thinking?"

Neji blinked and couldn't help the tiny flush across his cheeks. "Well… I think he's right. You do have a problem letting go of things. And if he has said his love for you has changed then you have to respect that. As much as you may think you love him, there will be someone else out there for you. Someone who can bring you out of your shell and help you accept change and move on," Neji advised wisely, if not a bit selfishly. One down, two to go…

Gaara groaned and looked up at the ceiling, blaming all of his problems on it and glaring as if that would help him. "No one could ever love me the way he did," he moaned despairingly.

Neji chuckled and, before he could stop himself, kissed Gaara's forehead reassuringly, making the red-head blush instantly and lock shocked eyes with Neji's teasing ones. "There are more people than you might think…"

…

Naruto sighed as he finally made it back home. He opened the door and flipped on the lights. Ah… home sweet home… It had been a long day and he wanted nothing more than to jump into the shower, eat and go to bed…

He tossed his backpack, went to the bathroom, undressed, and turned on the shower. His cerulean eyes were half lidded as he stepped into the hot water and moaned as he felt his muscles relax. It felt sooo good…

"You didn't even say hi to me," a voice came from behind Naruto. The poor boy jumped and yelped, whirling around to face the intruder, his heart beating a million miles per second.

Then his fright immediately turned to anger. "God DAMMIT Kyuubi! What the fuck?! Get out of here you pervert!" Naruto yelled, starting to throw shampoo bottles, bars of soap, and anything else he could get his hands on while trying to cover up his junk.

Kyuubi retreated quickly, chuckling at Naruto's reaction. He would wait for Naruto to come out before risking bothering him again.

…

Woohoo! An eventful chapter! We finally find out the mystery behind Suna… Gaara is let down, Neji gets excited, Sasuke is confused and Kyuubi reappears! Oh dear! The drama! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did…

Please READ & REVIEW!

Love you all,

TLC