If: Still going strong! Woo!
Warnings: Got nothing still, unless you count swearing.
Review replies: HanChan - Thanks so much for the review! Thank you for the nice words. No one's ever said that I have good pacing or character interaction or all that. I've got no idea how to respond to it. SO... Thanks? But anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Vocab: IMF - the International Monetary Foundation, the IMF is an organization of 185 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty (straight from the IMF's official site)
Naruto was surprised to see Gaara leaving his apartment Tuesday afternoon. The red head had a small backpack and was trying to hail a cab. Naruto decided to take the chance, started his car and pulled up to the curb. Rolling down a window and grinning beatifically, Naruto motioned for Gaara to get into the car. Seeing Gaara scowl, Naruto motioned quicker.
"Come on! It's not like I'm not gonna follow you anyway, so you might as well get a ride from me!" he pointed out. Gaara just grumbled and begrudgingly pulled open the car door, tossing his backpack into the back seat and settling into the passenger seat. "Where to?"
"… Airport," Gaara replied. Naruto gave him a suspicious look before pulling away from the curb and into traffic.
"Why are you going there?" Naruto asked bluntly. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the red head rolling his eyes.
"… To catch a flight. Why else would I be going to the airport? To watch the people?" Gaara retorted sarcastically. Naruto barked out a laugh and turned up his stereo, loving the song that had come on. Gaara just looked at him as if he were crazy as he started to speak the words.
"… I said, 'babe, what is the deal? You're noticing all these other chicks… maybe you're a lesbian.' She looks at me and says 'I wish I was a lesbian.' Now at that point I wanted to say 'you mean you wish you were a lesbian, because grammatically…' But I let it slide, I didn't want to ruffle any feathers, but that sentence, that retort 'I wish I was a lesbian' Kinda stuck in the old lobo's mind, kinda gestated there for 7-8 minutes, and this tune popped out!" Naruto said before breaking out into song with the singer. Gaara was staring at him as if whatever mind he had was gone, and since his music was so loud and he was trapped in traffic, the people around him were looking at him the same way. As Naruto got even more into the song, Gaara brought his hands up to his face and tried desperately to hide, sinking low in his seat so that the people next to them wouldn't see him. Naruto grinned at his cute childish-ness, knowing that the people stuck next to them had already seen the red head and that all of his hiding was in vain.
As the song changed to something mellower, and not even close to funny, Naruto looked over to his companion to see that he wasn't budging from his position of below the window. Chuckling, he leaned over and poked the red head, who only gave him a long-suffering sigh.
"Are you always like this?" Gaara asked. Naruto laughed and nodded vigorously, taking a left turn at the light.
"Yup! I like to have fun!" he proclaimed. Gaara sighed and pushed himself back up into an upright position.
"You call that perverted song fun?" Gaara asked incredulously. Naruto nodded emphatically. "That wasn't fun… it was embarrassing."
"But it was funny!" Naruto exclaimed, not getting why Gaara didn't get that it was funny. Gaara sighed again. Naruto was turning onto the expressway now, about halfway to their destination.
"By the way Gaara, where exactly are you going?" Naruto asked, suddenly all business. Gaara, having gotten used to these sudden changes in demeanor, just looked annoyed about his purpose.
"I have to go visit my siblings in Arizona," he said begrudgingly, not seeming to enjoy this visit at all.
"Why do you sound so… angry, no that's not right, upset? No, that's still not it… annoyed! That's the word I'm looking for. Why do you sound so annoyed by it?" Naruto asked. Gaara scowled.
"My sister's good for nothing boyfriend proposed. And now she wants me down there to congratulate her," Gaara sneered.
"Doesn't sound like you like the guy," Naruto commented. Gaara barked a short derisive laugh.
"That's an understatement," he replied, seething on the inside. "He's a worthless pile of crap. All he does is complain about how 'troublesome' everything is. I'm surprised he even has a job, since the only thing he enjoys is staring up at the sky."
"He he he… sounds an awful lot like a friend of mine from high school," Naruto said, chuckling. Gaara glared at him. "Sorry, I've just gotten used to people like that is all."
"They've been dating for four years now…" Gaara muttered. Naruto spared an astonished look to the red head as he turned off the expressway and onto his exit. "I think she could do so much better than that lazy jerk."
"Yeah, but you can't help who you fall in love with, and you most certainly can't help who someone else falls for," Naruto replied sagely. Gaara scowled.
"Yeah… but why did it have to be him?" he asked. Naruto smiled at his companion. Gaara had certainly started to open up to him since their little weekend of hanging out. Naruto was hoping that Gaara considered him a friend, at least, because Naruto most certainly had almost an unnatural attachment to the red head.
As the blond pulled up to the airport and pulled into a parking space, determined to hang around the red head as long as possible, he followed the other man inside. Gaara would spare him a look every now and then, probably wondering why the other man was following him, but he just accepted that he wasn't going to get rid of the blond any time soon.
"Ne, Gaara, how long are you going to be there anyway?" Naruto asked as Gaara got in line to pickup his ticket.
"A few days, I think," Gaara replied. On the one hand, he was happy to be getting away from the energetic blond FBI agent, but on the other hand, he really didn't want to deal with his sister's boyfriend… fiancé. As he got his ticket he took a glance at the blond and noticed that he was surprisingly not happy. Grabbing his stuff and starting off to get in line to pass through security, Gaara faced the blond. Scuffling his feet for a second, and wondering why he was even stopping in the first place, Gaara scowled and turned back around, determined to ignore the blond and just leave.
"Gaara! Wait!" Naruto shouted before Gaara could get back in line. Turning, Gaara barely had time to register what was going on before he was swept into a bear hug. The blond spun him around once before settling him back on his feet. Dizzy, and more than a little confused, Gaara didn't have a chance to react before Naruto bent down and kissed him square on the lips. Eyes wide as saucers, and too stunned to do anything, Gaara just stood there as Naruto quickly pulled back, blushing as red as his companions hair.
"… Something for you to think about on your trip," Naruto muttered before guiding a still stunned Gaara back into line to go through security. Hoping that the red head would snap out of it soon, Naruto quickly dashed before said red head came to his senses and tried to kill him.
As Naruto exited the airport and started the trek out to his car, his cell phone rang. 'Rehab' was playing and Naruto knew that it was his best girl, Sakura calling. Smiling and pulling his phone out, he flipped it open.
"Hey Sakura!" Naruto said, happy that his old friend was calling.
"Hey Naruto," Sakura replied.
"Why are you calling? Not that I mind, of course, I'm just curious is all," Naruto said, fishing his car keys out of his pocket.
"I was just wondering what was going on in your life… if you had done something stupid and made a move on this suspect you have a thing for, stuff like that," Sakura replied calmly. Naruto sputtered for a moment and dropped his keys. Laughing nervously while picking up his keys, Naruto tried to formulate a response in his mind.
"Now why would I do something as stupid as that?" was the response he finally settled on. He could hear Sakura scoff on the other end of the line.
"Naruto, when haven't you been that stupid?" she asked.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted, outraged. "I'm not an idiot! Just because I act like one doesn't mean I am one!"
"I know Naruto, but sometimes you just don't think before you act," Sakura replied, trying to placate the irate blond.
"You can say that again," Naruto said, pouting as he reached his car, thinking of the stupid thing he had just done a little while ago, involving one sexy red head.
"… You did something stupid involving that suspect you keep talking about, didn't you?" Sakura asked, hitting the nail on the head.
"He has a name Sakura… he's not just a suspect," Naruto replied, finally giving up his farce that everything was alright.
"Fine then, what's his name?" Sakura asked.
"Gaara. Sabakuno Gaara," Naruto replied, his voice taking on a bit of a dreamy quality.
"Damn… you sound like you're smitten already. He must be one hot piece of man-flesh to get you this worked up this quickly," Sakura said. Naruto groaned and hit his head against the roof of his car before opening the door and getting in, resting his head against the steering wheel.
"Trust me, he's something special alright," Naruto said, absently pressing his fingers to his lips, remembering the feel of those silken lips that had been pressed to his not that long ago.
"So what stupid thing did you do this time?" Sakura asked, startling Naruto out of his reverie.
"Um… well, you see…" Naruto stuttered, not being able to tell his best friend how he had most likely messed up in the worst way possible. Gaara had just been starting to warm up to him, and now he had gone and kissed him, and now he would probably never speak to him again.
"Wow, you must have really fucked up," Sakura commented. Naruto pouted. "If you can't even tell me it must be pretty bad."
"He left for Arizona today… which reminds me, I need to make sure he actually went to Arizona and when he gets back I need to call up his family and see if he was really there…" Naruto started to mumble.
"Naruto! What did you say? You're mumbling again!" Sakura shouted.
"Sorry Sakura-chan!" Naruto apologized. "I said that he left for Arizona today."
"So? What's the big deal about him leaving for Arizona?" Sakura asked, exasperated.
"Well… he's gonna be gone for a few days, and I really just want to keep him to myself…" Naruto started to mumble again.
"Naruto! Just tell me what the fuck you did or I will personally fly up to Massachusetts and kick your ass!" Sakura shouted, clearly frustrated with her friend.
"I kissed him!" Naruto shouted before clapping his free hand over his mouth. There was silence on the other end of the line. "… Sakura-chan?"
"… You kissed him?" was her reply.
"… Yes…" Naruto admitted.
"Damn! I can't believe I missed that!" Sakura cursed.
"… You know if Lee ever knew that you were such a closet pervert concerning two guys making out…" Naruto started before he was interrupted.
"Don't you even start! Lee knows that I have a fetish for two guys going at it!" Sakura interjected. Naruto twitched. "I happened to get lucky enough to find a guy who doesn't frankly care, and is open to having a threesome with another guy."
Naruto grimaced. "I so didn't need that mental image…"
Naruto could practically hear Sakura's smirk through the phone. "You're welcome to join us any time Naruto-kun."
"Eww! I don't want to be part of you sex life with your husband!" Naruto exclaimed, thoroughly freaked out. "I just want Gaara!"
"… You are so smitten its not even funny," Sakura said after Naruto's second admission. Naruto groaned in frustration. "You've got it bad for this guy."
"Tell me about it… but now I've totally messed up, I shouldn't have kissed him. I probably scared him for life… the poor guy was all out of it, staring into space with his mouth hanging open, totally shocked. I don't even know if he made it onto the plane… I kinda dashed out of there, since I didn't want him to kill me," Naruto said dejectedly.
"Well, the fact that he didn't just punch you when you did kiss him is a good sign," Sakura said, ever the optimist when it came to Naruto's love-life. "I mean, if he didn't like it, or didn't want it or whatever, he would have strangled you at the first sign of you making a move. It sounds to me like you might just have a chance, but don't get your hopes up."
Naruto smiled. "Thanks Sakura, you always know what to say to cheer me up. I'm sure you're right!"
"Of course I am! I am the outside perspective after all!" Sakura exclaimed. "But Naruto… you need to remember that he's still a suspect. He still could be the Sandman."
"I know, but I highly doubt that he's the Sandman. There's no way that a six year old could start a career as a hit man," Naruto reasoned. "Besides, he's got a solid alibi for every day there's been a murder."
"I know, and you're probably right, but I just want you to be careful, I don't want to have a repeat of what happened with Sasuke," Sakura said. Naruto instantly darkened at that name.
"Damn that teme… I still can't find that bastard. No matter how many leads I get, he's always one step ahead of me. I can find Itachi no problem, but the second I try to look for Sasuke, he's gone," Naruto grumped.
"I'm sorry Naruto, I know how much it means for you to find him," Sakura said.
"It's alright Sakura-chan. I have other things I can focus on now. The Uchiha case is not my primary case anymore, the Sandman case is," Naruto replied. "Well I should probably go. There's a guy honking at me to get out of my parking space… he doesn't seem very happy."
"Alright Naruto, take care of yourself, and good luck with Gaara!" Sakura said.
"Bye Sakura," Naruto said and then hung up. Glaring out his rear-view mirror, Naruto cursed. "Alright already! I'm moving, I'm moving. Geeze."
-------------------
Naruto was bored out of his mind. Here he was, sitting in his apartment playing solitaire on his computer while listening to the news on the TV. And just to prove how bored he really was, Naruto never played solitaire. Naruto didn't even like the game, but there was nothing else to do when there was nothing on TV, there was nothing he wanted to play on his Playstation, and there was no Gaara to go bug, the red head had been gone for two days now. Just the thought of that red haired beauty caused Naruto to feel so many different conflicting emotions, but he just sighed. There was no use in pondering all these feelings that he was having, it would just make him miss the red head and realize some things that he just didn't want to face right now. But just as he was about to win his very first game of solitaire the news caught his attention.
"This just in! Breaking news from Jamaica! The Sandman has struck again!" Naruto could only listen and watch in awe. "Today the body of John Evans, one of the Executive Board members of the IMF was assassinated in his hotel room in Jamaica. John Evans was 43, married with two children. He was working with the Jamaican government to help the country with its debt. The IMF has loaned approximately…"
Naruto absently picked up his phone as it rang, still listening to the report on the TV.
"Uzumaki! The Sandman has struck again! Where is your suspect?" one of Naruto's superiors shouted in his ear.
"Sabakuno Gaara is in Arizona with his siblings, celebrating his sister's engagement," Naruto replied absently. The newscaster still prattling about the IMF's involvement with Jamaica.
"How do you know that he's there for sure?" his superior demanded.
"I called his home yesterday and talked to him myself. And today I left a message on both his home machine and cell phone," Naruto replied.
"If he didn't pick up today than he could be in Jamaica!" Naruto's superior shouted.
"I highly doubt that sir. I called at ten o'clock last night," Naruto replied absently, the news program now showing the Executive's body being removed from the hotel.
"… Uzumaki, if you called at ten here then it would have only been 7 there!" Naruto's superior shouted. Naruto flinched, holding the phone away from his ear.
"It is still improbable that he would have gotten to Jamaica to assassinate the IMF member within the time frame of his death," Naruto said calmly. A click of the receiver was his only answer.
"…The police have confirmed that this was the work of the Sandman. Sand had been strewn across the floor and some had been stuffed in the Executive's mouth. He was shot three times straight through the heart. There were no prints or any other clues as to the identity of the infamous killer…"
Naruto's cell phone was ringing again and he once again brought it to his ear absently.
"What did you want?" Gaara's annoyed voice came over the phone.
"Hey Gaara…" Naruto replied.