If: This sucker's gonna keep going man... I'm determined to finish it before I lose interest! ... anyways... another chapter! Yay!...
Warnings: nothing really, just plot development
Review replies:
blueinu : Heh, it wasn't that bad of a cliffie! Considering some other cliffies I've seen and written, that was nothing! But I'm glad that you like my humble little story! And mucho gracias for the review! I love reviews!
Vocab: Existentialism - a philosophical view that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in an indifferent/hostile universe, where existence is unexplainable and stresses freedom of choice
Theseus's Ship - a philosophical discussion on identity.
"Sabakuno-san!" an annoying voice, which Gaara was loathe to admit that he knew quite well, shouted over the din of the Starbucks. Scowling, and wondering idly if he could slip out before the blond got to his table, Gaara just glared at the blond making his way over. Taking a sip of his black coffee with an extra two shots of espresso, Gaara sighed. The bond FBI agent, who Gaara almost remembered the name of, had been "coincidentally" bumping into him for the past week. If Gaara went to the local market to pick up groceries, he would find the blond suddenly following him around and asking him all sorts of annoying questions. If he was at the movie theatre seeing a new flick (Gaara loved slashers and good mystery thrillers) the blond agent would plop down next to him and then follow him back to his apartment. It was starting to get on Gaara's nerves. So as the blond man sat down next to him in the crowded Starbucks he just snapped.
"Why the hell are you stalking me?" he snapped. The blond grinned at him.
"I told you that someone would be watching you!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "I just so happened to get that job!"
"… I think I would have rather had one of those desk-jockeys following me around. You're practically a pervert," Gaara replied, sneering at the other man. The smile on the blond's face cracked a bit, but he just closed his eyes and forced his grin to get larger.
"Aww… Gaa-chan's so mean!" he exclaimed. Gaara twitched.
"Call me that again and I really will kill you," he said through clenched teeth. Grabbing his drink he moved to stand up, but a hand grabbed his elbow.
"I'm sorry Sabakuno-san," the blond said contritely. "It's just that I can't help but tease you, you're so uptight. You need to let loose a little more, laugh a little."
Gaara gingerly sat back down in his chair. "There's nothing to laugh about. This world is a bleak place."
The blond grinned. "That may be so, but we only have one life to live, and what kind of life would it be if we just went around moping all the time? If you don't have fun now, when will you ever?"
Gaara just stared at the blond for a moment that had been the deepest thing he had heard from him. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, thinking that maybe there was an ulterior motive behind this sudden insight (like asking him out, which the blond seemed to do every time they "bumped into" each other), Gaara took in the words.
"Isn't that somewhat of a bleak point of view coming from someone as happy as you?" Gaara asked. The blond smiled brightly.
"I suppose, but I just can't believe in eternal happiness and an afterlife," he replied. Gaara cocked his head to the side.
"Why not? It seems to me that it would fit your personality to believe in something like that instead of this existentialism," Gaara commented.
The blond pondered this for a moment, his face scrunching up and his hands going behind his head. "Well, I guess that on my journey through this life I have come to believe in things which seem true to me. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not all smiles and happiness, I know the darker side of life and it has had its effects on my outlook on life and everything after."
Gaara nodded. "I rather think I may have taken you at face value."
"Face value?" the blond asked. "You mean you thought up until now that I was an air headed blond who had no real thoughts in his head?"
Gaara's face was strategically blank, a move he had perfected over the years. "Maybe."
The blond scowled. "I can be just as philosophical as the next guy! I didn't get this job because I'm so freaking hot, not that you've cared to notice."
Gaara suppressed the urge to chuckle at the irate blond who was sulking and drowning his "sorrows" in his frappaccino. He hated to admit it, but there had to have been a reason the blond had gotten into the FBI, it's not as if they let anyone in there.
"I apologize for being so narrow minded," Gaara said, hoping to placate the blond.
"I'll accept your apology on one condition," the blond said mischievously. Gaara rolled his eyes, here it came, the inevitable invitation to go out with the blond. "You have to willingly hang out with me this weekend."
Gaara blinked; rather surprised the blond hadn't asked him on a date. He raised a skeptical brow, an expression totally lost on the blond though since Gaara didn't have any eyebrows.
"Just hang out? No invite to a date?" Gaara asked. The blond grinned lecherously.
"Why? Do you want to go on a date with me? Because that could totally be arranged instead of hanging out," the blond said quickly. Gaara's eyes went wide. He had totally fallen into that trap. Grumbling under his breath Gaara shook his head emphatically.
"No! No dates," he said. The blond deflated a bit and looked almost sad.
"Your loss," he finally said. Gaara blinked. "Alright then! Your apartment, Saturday at 11am."
"Why my apartment? The last time you were there you destroyed it!" Gaara said, annoyed at the presumptuous blond.
"I didn't destroy your building! It was the police guys! Besides, I know where your apartment is, you don't know where mine is," the blond said. Gaara rolled his eyes. "Besides, this way you can't get out of it."
Gaara scowled. The blond was almost smart. There was no way Gaara would be able to get out of this.
"Now then, why don't we keep this conversation philosophical and talk about the concept of Theseus's Ship?" the blond suggested. Gaara snorted.
"Alright. I believe that if all of the ship was replaced then the ship that was all new parts wouldn't be Theseus's Ship. Theseus's Ship had the original planks, not the new ones. If all the old boards were in a pile then that would be Theseus's Ship," Gaara said. Naruto nodded his head as if he was understanding.
"Well I think that even if you replaced all the boards it would still be Theseus's Ship. Its just like people, you aren't the same person you were when you were 5, your personality and even your appearance have changed, but you're still you. I wouldn't be able to say that 5 year old Naruto was Naruto, but that Naruto now is not Naruto at all but an entirely different person," the blond (Naruto, Gaara reminded himself) said. "I am Naruto, no matter how many changes I go through."
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"Does he suspect anything?"
"No."
"But you should still be careful."
"Of course. I know that he's not an idiot, if he's from the FBI then he's smarter than he looks."
"Of course."
"Besides, he is the perfect alibi. No matter what I could have an FBI agent on my side and he'll be able to prove that I didn't do a damn thing. He might even get me off the 'suspects' list."
"Don't get too over-confident. Over-confidence could lead to your downfall."
"I'm too paranoid to get over-confident."
"While I'm not arguing with you on that point, I still think you should be careful. Don't get attached."
"Attached? To that idiot? I don't think that's a possibility."
"You never know, people have a way of working their way into your life. You should remember the last time someone wormed their way into your life."
"… That will never happen again."
"You can't say that for sure, and you know it. You have no control over what your heart feels. I should know, I'm in love with a lazy bastard."
"Heh. That's for sure."
"… Just be careful, would you?"
"I'm always careful."
"I know. But always be aware of what's going on between you and the FBI man. Tell us everything, and if you start to get in too deep we'll help you get out, ok?"
"… Fine, though I still think you're being paranoid."
"Better to be paranoid and safe than carefree and in trouble."
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At 11am on the dot there was a banging on his door (which had been fixed thanks to the nice land lady and her husband, not the police who had broken the door in the first place) and Gaara rushed to open it, having a feeling that the brash blond would knock down his door again if he didn't answer and quick. As he pulled the door open he was greeted by a mildly surprised blond.
"I didn't think you would open the door so quickly," Naruto said, smiling happily and maneuvering his way into Gaara's apartment. Gaara grumbled something about pushy blonds and closed the door.
"I didn't want to have to put my door back on its hinges again," Gaara retorted. Naruto's grin only brightened.
"You mean you were just that excited to se me?" the blond said sidling up to the red head and slinging an arm around his shoulders. Gaara just looked at the blond before pushing the arm off of him.
"Of course not, I was fearing for the safety of my home," Gaara said stalking back to his couch and plopping down in it. Naruto followed suit, sitting next to the sulking red head.
"I was thinking that we could play some games!" the blond exclaimed after a moment of awkward silence. Gaara deadpanned at the blond.
"I don't own any games…" he said. Undeterred, the blond grabbed his backpack, which Gaara had only just noticed, and unzipped it. Gaara stared, with a mixture of awe and horror, at the contents of the bag.
"I brought my PS2, and some card games I love!" the blond exclaimed, happily making his way over to Gaara's TV and unpacking said PS2.
"… Why do I want to play these games when I know I'm going to lose?" Gaara asked. Naruto gave him a quick grin before going back to his meticulous set-up.
"Because in all actuality, I'm not that great at most of the games I picked. I have this thing… I can't button mash, which puts me at a horrible disadvantage since I try to do all the combos and strategize while my opponents just press buttons and take me out," he admitted, finally finishing his set up. "I brought Soul Calibur 3, Madden, Katamari Damacy, Lego Star Wars 2, and the Warriors."
"… The Warriors?" Gaara asked. Naruto grinned at him.
"Yes, the Warriors. They made a game based on the movie, based on the comic, based on the Greek tale," Naruto clarified. Gaara just blinked at him.
"… Good movie," the red head finally said. Naruto beamed at him happily.
"It was! Mindless gang violence is the best!" he said, popping a disk into the PS2 and grabbing the controllers. "How do you turn the TV on anyway?"
Gaara reached for a remote and clicked power. "Which video channel is it on?"
Naruto put a hand to his chin. "Two I think."
Gaara pressed a button twice and the Playstation configuration screen popped up. Naruto muttered an 'oops,' handing the controllers to Gaara before moving back to the PS2 to tweak something. As the loading screens started, he plopped back into his seat next to Gaara.
"If you liked the movie, you should like this," Naruto said, grabbing one of the controllers from Gaara. "It starts a few weeks before the actual movie, but it gets to the good stuff eventually."
"… So what am I supposed to be doing?" Gaara asked, looking at the controller in his hands. Naruto sighed and looked at the perplexed red head.
"You put your hands like this…" Naruto said, maneuvering Gaara's hands into position. "You'll move your character with the left analog stick" Naruto demonstrated. "And you attack with the buttons on your right. For the first part of the game you'll also be tagging walls, which isn't as easy as it seems. You'll hold down a button on your right and trace a pattern with your left analog."
Gaara just stared at the blond, whose entire explanation had gone in one ear and out the other. Naruto sighed, hanging his head.
"You'll get the hang of it, and if not we'll try something easier, like Soul Calibur 3," he said, selecting two player mode from the menu.
Half an hour, lots of cursing, and several attempts at throwing the controller across the room later, Naruto decided it might be a good idea to switch games. Gaara was fuming, he had no idea of where he was going, what he was doing and he couldn't tag a wall to save his life. Grumbling about inaccuracies and cheating AI, the red head pouted. Unfortunately, Gaara's little temper tantrum had caught the blond's attention, who was now staring at him and trying to suppress a grin.
"… What's your problem?" Gaara asked, pouting even more. Naruto couldn't hold back the grin anymore and started to laugh.
"You're just so cute!" the blond exclaimed. Gaara frowned, sticking out his bottom lip even more. Naruto's grin just grew.
"I am not cute!" Gaara exclaimed and threw a throw pillow at the blond, who was switching discs. The pillow hit him right on the side of the head. Turning very slowly and locking a blank stare at the red head, Gaara could only gulp as Naruto advanced on him.
"… I'm… sorry?..." Gaara managed before the blond pounced on him. "Get off of me!"
"No can do Gaara," Naruto retorted, unsuccessfully trying to make himself comfortable in Gaara's lap. Gaara, however, was having none of it and was squirming rather viciously in his attempts to get out from under the blond. "I must administer the punishment for your crime!"
"What?!" Gaara exclaimed, suddenly very worried about his virginity. Naruto smirked, which in all actuality didn't look different from one of his grins aside from the evil intent in his eyes.
"You must be punished for hitting me with a pillow!" the blond exclaimed and attacked Gaara's sides. Gasping, having not expected this reaction, Gaara squirmed even more and even squeaked as Naruto found one of his ticklish spots.
Naruto seemed to be enjoying the sounds and reactions he was getting from poor Gaara, if the wide fox-like grin on his face was anything to go by. Gaara was trying valiantly to keep the laughter in, but wasn't having the best of luck, if the sounds escaping his mouth were anything to go by.
"Stop! Stop!" Gaara finally exclaimed. "I give! You win! I'll never hit you with a pillow ever again!"
Naruto's grin grew and he got off of the exhausted red head. "That will teach you to throw a pillow at me."
Gaara just glared at Naruto as he nodded his head serenely. Looking at the TV screen Gaara was surprised to see a new game's loading screen.
"Soul Calibur 3?" Gaara asked suspiciously. Naruto just grinned happily.
"You'll like it, it's a button mashing fighting game," the blond replied. Gaara just shrugged.
"… Fear my button mashing skills," Gaara finally said after he kicked Naruto's ass in his first match. Naruto glared.
"I'll get you for that!" Naruto exclaimed. "Vengeance will be mine!"
Gaara rolled his eyes and knocked Naruto's character out of the ring.
"Hey! That's not fair! I wasn't paying attention!" Naruto screeched. Gaara smirked.
"That's your own damn fault, not mine," he retorted, and thus the war began.
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"Hello?"
"Next Thursday, Jamaica."
"… Will you be leaving the information in the usual place?"
"Yes, all the information you need will be in the envelope."
"Then I will get back to you on whether I'll do the job or not as soon as I get the information."
"Very good."
The receiver clicked as the phone was hung up.