I AM SO SORRY! Enjoy? (Oh, and I recycled some poetry. You might recognize it if you read the earlier GHA.) But anyways, here's the update. (Finally! -is stoned and bricked and frying panned and other painful projectile objects-)

TWO MONTHS LATER

Inspiration played a fleeting game. Where one artist couldn't paint, one always could. Naruto had wondered to himself the chances of losing inspiration, and had often deluded himself into believing he was immune. Now, as he stared at the expanse of nearly limitless white before him, he marveled silently, comberly, at his inability to conjure even a single idea.

Had he been drawing for a hobby, he'd have allowed himself leisure time; a book here, an outing there. But the fact that his career was in jeopardy had one predictable outcome: day after day, beer after beer, Naruto continued to think, mulling over the empty canvas in his mind, and he had plenty of garbage bags to show for it.

Throwing a tired glance to the wall clock, Naruto stood and sighed, retrieving another beer from his fridge. He took a seat at the kitchen table and stared, somewhat slackjawed, out the window. Nothing. Not an idea... Not even a single stroke of a brush...

A sharp knock on his door startled him from his reverie. Sighing, he shuffled up and pulled open the heavy oak of his door. "Hai?"

Sasuke took in the disheveled look of his best friend and sighed. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?" The blondes hand rasped over a three-day beard, and he yawned, staring quizically at the Uchiha's tuxedo.

Sasuke pushed past him, muttering, "What are we going to do with you?"

"What did I forget?" Naruto pressed, following Sasuke up the stairs to his bedroom. "And what are you doing?" he asked as his raven-haired friend started going through his closet.

"Finding that tux my brother bought you."

"Why?"

"Stop asking questions and go shave!" Sasuke located the suit and set in on the bed. He then found an old pair of loafers and almost laughed. "Why are you still watching me? Go shave; you look like a drunk with that beard."

Naruto glowered childishly, but went to do so anyway. When he returned, Sasuke appraised him, his mouth a straight line. "Run a brush through that mop of hair. Be quick about it."

"Why am I doing this?"

"Less talk, more action. We're late as it is."

"Late for what?" Naruto asked yet again, the bristles of the brush catching on the tangles in his hair.

Sasuke sighed. "Please just concentrate on looking presentable?"

Grumbling, Naruto set the brush down and changed out of his sweats. He then wordlessly put on the suit, watching Sasuke suspiciously as he did so. "Really, Sas-"

"How much have you had to drink this morning?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "Not much... maybe half a beer. Why? Where are we going, damn it?"

"Pop in a tic-tac and put on your shoes. I'll explain in the car." With those parting instructions, Sasuke went back downstairs to the kitchen, dumping out the half-drunk beer and tidying up a bit.

Naruto finally, after a few minutes of waiting, came down the stairs, looking strangely dignified as he struggled with his red silk tie. "A little assistance?"

Sasuke found himself chuckling at the slightly flustered look on the Uzumaki boy's face and nodded, tying it loosely and affixing on it a tie pin. "There."

Smiling brightly, Naruto snagged a rose off his neighbours bush on his way to the car, carefully placing it in his pocket. "Now tell me where we're going."

"One of the Hyuuga boy's socialite parties." Sasuke replied, stepping on the brake as he eased into the busy freeway traffic.

"Then why are we invited?"

"Beats me. Gaara, Lee, even Kiba will be there. I think there's something afoot; it's not like him to be so friendly."

Naruto shrugged, staring out the window.

-

"I'd like to use this time to propose a toast to the new company head, Neji-san!" Kiba, a bit drunk around the edges, held his champange glass high in triumph. The stoic Hyuuga male found that he was smiling despite himself.

The night had progressed amazingly well so far, and everyone, even Gaara were enjoying themselves. There'd been laughter and rejoicing 'out the wazoo' as Kiba had so bluntly put it, and before long, they had the better part of five hours under their belts. Hinata had long since fallen asleep against her boyfriend, the man of the hour watching them thoughtfully. It was taking him time to adjust to the fact that his least favorite of comrades was dating (and likely defiling) his little cousin.

Looking around, he began to take into account the sleepy, sated faces of all his guests, and a thought passed through his head. "Listen up, everybody. Earlier today, I recieved a request, and I figure I should honor that before everyone passes out." He allowed a somewhat generous smile, directing his gaze to Gaara, who flushes a light sheen and looked at his wine glass.

"What's going on?" A somewhat drunk Kankuro slurred, having just poured himself another large glass of wine (much to Neji's displeasure).

"So, without further-"

"Neji. I don't need an introduction." Gaara stood, smiled his terse, hesitant smile, and retrieved his notebook.

Naruto recognized it immedeately. "That's his book of poems." He rather pointlessly stated.

Gaara wore a light, cluttered blush, and kept his eyes downcast ad he organized his pages. "I... uh... okay." he cleared his throat, looking up briefly, the slight blush still on his cheeks. "I write poems."

Light and fluttery laughter permeated the group, and Gaara's blush deepened. "You can do this." His sister whispered, through him a tender smile.

He closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts, continuing on. "I've been writing poems about the same thing for the better part of a year now..." He reopened his eyes, focusing on the foreheads of his audience. "I've never shared any of my poems with anyone before, much less these, so this is a new thing for me..." He directed his gaze on a full sweep of the room, and finally settled on his notebook.

"An angel struck down as he follows his calling
Abused and broken for no reason at all
The demon what smote him escapes unscathed
Bystanders standing tall
Wings that are clipped as he spirals to Earth
Danger reaching his form
Emptiness rears its ugly head,
And keeps him from moving on."

Gaara's blush had since deepened, and he refused to look up, even as the applause died. "This next one is the last one I'll share, I've decided, because this is killing me." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and began to read again.

"I watch
Colors change from smoky grey to soulless white
He falls
Danger lurks just beyond the sunset
I cry
Tears foriegn to my cheeks
I whisper for my angel but it's empty.
Nowhere do I find his light"

Gaara looked up at this point, and continued as though reciting the lines from memory.

"Illusions that facade themselves around me
I can see his innocence fall apart
The dark;
It creeps into my mind and numbs me
If he's gone, there's no point in moving on
I'll forever be, picturing his smile in my mind."

Gaara closed his eyes and paused, seemingly fighting some sort of internal battle, before he continued.

"Hearts stop
I lose all sense of time
Silence
I still ache inside
My soul is failing on me
Don't cry
The words aren't recognized..."

He stopped altogether now and cleared his throat, opening his eyes and staring directly at Naruto. It was now or never.

"Please stop
I look up and gaze into his eyes
I'm here
I speak, and my voice comes out strangled
I smile,
I love you, my golden haloed angel..."

-

"I feel like an ass..." Naruto mumbled into his phone, snuggled under the warm covers late that night.

"You should." Sasuke replied, his voice strained with the effort it took for him to stay awake."

"I wish I didn't..."

"Hey, you have good reason to hate yourself. Not many people expect hysterical laughter as the response to a confession of their love." Sasuke turned a tad bitter. "You probably really hurt him."

Naruto sighed. "How is it that I manage to royally fuck up everyone I care abouts life?"

Sasuke wasn't sure if it was the question itself or the torment in his best friends voice, but he shifted in bed so he no longer counted down the minutes until his alarm clock buzzed. "I don't know..." he told him, "but I'd reccomend finding him tomorrow and seeing if Temari and Kankuro will let you live long enough to apologize."

"I don't know if I can make this right, Sasuke..." Naruto whispered, sounding as though he might cry.

Sasuke closed his eyes in the dark, sighing. He truly wished for those bautiful blue eyes to never again shed a tear. "Naruto, I can tell you this much: you have to give it a shot. You're the only one who can make this right." And, nursing a jealousy that made his stomach turn, Sasuke prayed that the blonde succeeded.

--

Again, I am SO SORRY about the wait.

See you next chapter.