A/N: Uber short chapter, but it's "filler"-ish in the events. For your information, readers, this will only be TEN chapters long. Like I said in the summary, it's a mini-ficlet.

Still, I feel like I have to try.
I have to see if I can get those pieces to fit
…I have to at least attempt what's meant 'to be or not to be'.

"Me?" Naruto puzzles, and he reclines his head back a fraction of an inch. "What about me?"

I brush the question off and don't answer him. I hadn't even meant to admit that one word aloud! So why did I? I can be extremely foolish…

I stand, pick up my shoes and robes and march toward his apartment. I can hear him stumbling and scurrying to keep up with me. "Eh?! Gaara? Oi! Gaara! Wait! What about me? Where are you going? Ne, nee!!"

I ignore him.

The sky is quickly evolving into dusk, the colors dull, soft, and growing darker… the essence of twilight. I bathe my nose in the scents of the December night in Konoha and vaguely wonder how the scouts traveling to Sunagakure are faring.

"Jeez, Gaara… stop walking so fast…" the kitsune pants. "I've been training all day; can't you cut me a break, 'ttebayo?"

I continue to ignore him and instead wish it was summer; I would like to see fireflies since they aren't present in the desert…

"Gaara…" Naruto calls, and his tone causes me to cease walking. It's tired, beckoning… and demanding.

"Hmm?" I hum, pausing long enough for him to come to my side. Equals once again.

"Stop confusing me and leaving me hanging. Say what it is you need to say!" Naruto says stubbornly with his hands on his hips.

"Not here," I murmur just above a whisper.

He grunts exasperatedly and sulks. "Fine… When we get home, then."

- - -

When we did got 'home', I didn't confess what I had been thinking. I'm too confused. It seems whenever I let my mind wander, it comes around to Naruto. And when I try to distract myself, it goes full circle and returns to him. What is this obsession my mind has with him? It refuses my body's usual urges to leave or move away when he's nearby, and it thinks of nearly nothing but his ditsy behavior and his strong demeanor and his golden hair as warm as the sun and his cerulean eyes as rich as the sky and the strangely appealing whisker marks on his cheeks from his demon and the much tanner, almost caramel colored skin all over him and my min even thinks of the feeling of his overworked, Rasengan-worn calloused hands.

Ah, there I go again. Merely describing my thoughts makes me think them, and now I'm stuck with that odd churning in my stomach and feeling in my heart. Before, my heart merely ached with a gripping pain I tried to ease by clutching it through my chest. But now… after all that I've been through, and half of those things with or because of Naruto, I find my heart aching in a new way, in which it flutters like a trapped bird and aches to be released.

I shake my head at myself. It's late in the night in this instant, and I'm on the roof of Naruto's apartment. I know he's just below me, in his own bed, since I told him I won't be sleeping tonight. He didn't ask questions, nor did he protest. When the time came to sleep he simply moved his pillow to the bed and got beneath the covers. And I hopped out through his window.

I get the feeling that I'm not high up enough. Ever since I could remember, I liked heights. Being up on a rooftop gained me access to see all around me, and from that height I could watch. I could watch the stars, watch the sun and the moon, and watch out for my life. And yet it failed me, once; when Uncle Yashamaru attacked me. That was the lone moment in my life when being in a high place didn't save me from sensing an attack. Other times, I was readily prepared, even if I didn't always have the best advantage.

Still, I need to be higher tonight. The clean, crisp air on the heads of the 'Kage monuments should be adequate enough. So I jump roof to roof until I'm at the stairs leading up, and after a few minutes of running I'm where I want to be.

I sit on the Fourth's statue, reminded that he was Naruto's father. Like me, it seems, he was forced to hold the monster that wrecked his village. But I curious… was he meant to be a weapon like I was? Something tells me 'no'. Something tells me it was the only choice he had, and that he knew – of all people – his son could bear it. He probably thought it'd make his son a hero.

Foolish man. Brave, but foolish. He doesn't know how small-minded humans are, or how they react to the supernatural, like monsters from the Old Days. Shukaku told me about the Old Days when I was a bit older, right before I was rid of him, in fact. I asked him. 'What was it like, before humans came to be? In the Old Days?' I was curious, and sleepless, and for once on a somewhat safe level with him. Shukaku had grunted, saying nothing at first, and I let the topic drop. But then he had decided to answer me. 'There were always humans around, child. There's not a day when they weren't here. but there was a time when they were too afraid of us to do anything and stayed far away from us demons. And we wreaked havoc and killed as much as we pleased. Those were the good Old Days, and those were the days I'd give anything to have back. It was before some hair-brained idea came into the humans' possession that said they would use their complex jutsus to make seals and lock us away in their own bodies for safe keeping, and in some cases like yours, for power. It makes me sick,' he spat. I asked him, 'Was the world simple then? Without villages and division?' He laughed at that question. 'Of 'course; society as you know it wasn't perfect. Humans came together in tribes, not villages, and had no leaders or status and were just beginning to create and experiment with ninjutsu. In retrospect, they stole ideas from demon powers. What came natural to us they mimicked and made their own.' I took all that into consideration, and asked nothing more. Sometimes, Shukaku can be decent like that, and it's only when he's too tired to try and trick me into letting him out, or when he agrees with me on how despicable humans can be at times.

If I was lucky, I could get Shukaku to spill secrets about the Kyuubi. After I'd get something, though, he'd smirk and ask, 'You want to know because of that Uzumaki kid, don't cha?' And I would never respond.

Sitting here now, in Konohagakure atop their line of leaders, it makes me think of how much I don't miss that rough voice in the back of my head whispering demonic mantras. It also reminds me of how Naruto must feel from time to time, knowing there is something else with thoughts and desires. And perhaps feelings, if demons feel and have emotions like humans do. I know they have some: greed, anger, bloodlust, frustration, agitation, and maybe fear. But I doubt they can do things like love.

Love. Now there's a topic I have yet to understand entirely and feel at a broad range. I feel it in a small range: light friendship love, small family love, and the love of doing things like reading or Sumi-e painting. But there are so many other kinds of love…

What puzzles me most is the blurring of one love into another. I've heard that friendship love can have smeary lines, and that sometimes, friendship love blossoms into romantic love. I also heard that family love can grow twisted and also into romantic love, which they call 'incest'. The latter frightens me; I shudder to think of anyone who'd fall in love with their cousin or sibling or something of the like. It's a disgusting thought.

But the first mention of friendship love turning to romantic love… now that idea intrigues me. Is that how Naruto is with Sakura, or has he always had a 'crush' (as Temari calls it) on her? And is it lasting to date? For reasons I can't place, I don't want that to be. Something tells me it would be an obstacle.

Wait, an obstacle? It's not as thought I want Naruto's heart… he's only my friend, isn't he? A precious person I would hate to lose? I thought that's all he was… is… And yet…

My heart flutters again, and I grip it through my shirt. My eyes dart back and forth at nothing in particular as I recap some information.

I tend to flush around him. I crave contact between us. I know him through and through, deeper than his friends do, because I know when his smiles are false and when he's hurting. And secretly, I want to help take away his hurt. And when we fought, and he said, 'I don't know why, but I understand your pain so much it actually hurts,' I had bee struck with something that never left me, because I knew then that he understood me as well. In addition, I enjoy being with him and wouldn't like to be anywhere else in this time of crisis than his home. It's welcome here; he's welcoming.

So does this mean…

My brain shocked into motionlessness, my body acts on it's own accord and escapes this high place and enters Naruto's bedroom. Blinking at the blonde's sleeping form, I had my answer.

And here I thought I could never experience such an emotion. Kami, was I ever terribly mistaken…

A/N: OMG, HOW PERFECT IS IT THAT AFTER COMPLETING THIS CHAPTER, AND WHILE LISTENING TO ALL MY MUSIC BY THE BAND 'HURT', I HEAR THE PERFECT LYRICS FOR THIS ENDING MOMENT IN THEIR SONG "DANSE RUSSE":

Quietly, while you sleep
Whispering the sweetest things
Close those eyes and stop them dreams
'Cause all this is what you mean to me...

Gawd, I've always loved that song, but now I love it more, LOL. Go listen to it! Search it on youtube or hear a sample on iTunes Store or something!! It's a really good song, and that tiny part I just typed up is from about 1:51 to about 2:04 (in minutes).

Anyway, I'm surprised this tiny 'nothing' fic is doing so well so fast (25 reviews in two days!! OMFG!!), and all thanks to my DB readers, it seems. XD
I love you guys. Review, please! Only three more chapters to go...