Again, this is only a side fic and it does not follow any sort of timeline from Wild One. The chapters will be short and in no particular order! This chapter, for example, is before Gaara becomes Kazekage, but they're in Suna so obviously there's been a time skip. This chapter has been rewritten: 3-16-2013
I do not own Naruto.
"I accept the hard reality that I maybe might possibly be just the slightest tiniest littlest bit kinda sorta interested in him."
-Sarah Ockler
Chapter 3: Shirtless in Suna
I lounged upside down on the plush sofa with my legs hanging over the backrest limply. In hopes of distracting myself from the blistering heat of the day, I flipped through the pages of an old book, holding it right side up. Periodically, I reached up to wipe the sweat from my forehead, stopping it from running into my already dry eyes.
"What are you doing?"
Listlessly, I looked in the direction Gaara's voice had come from, and found to my complete and utter surprise; a shirtless Gaara. Time came to a grinding halt as I gazed at his porcelain skin, marred only by the shiny, pinkish, star-shaped scar on the right side of his chest.
Twisting violently around I sat up straight in my seat. Gaara…has no shirt…there is no shirt on Gaara…it's Gaara…without a shirt…? My brain had shutdown, or turned to mush. I couldn't be sure of much of anything without a properly functioning brain.
Mush for brains aside, there was a shirtless Gaara standing before me, with beads of sweat running down his powerful torso. The droplets seeped into the loose fabric of his low slung pants and stained the burgundy cloth a deep, rich brown.
"Kida, is something wrong?" Gaara's concerned voice reached me and I tried to tear my eyes away from his well-defined abs. I only made it as far as his chiseled chest before I found myself distracted again, lost in the desire to reach out and touch him. I wanted to press my palms against his damp chest, to see if the taut skin was a soft and smooth as it looked.
"Kida?" he called to me again.
"Muhhh?" I said trying to form words.
"Are you all right?" he asked, sounding worried.
"Mnn sses hted?" I stumbled thickly over my tongue, trying to remember how to speak but failing miserably.
Gaara let out a deep chuckle that shook his ivory frame softly, and succeeded in frying my poor, unprepared brain even more.
"Kida," he called to me again, his husky voice teasing.
I finally found the strength to look away from his exposed torso just in time to see him smirk smugly and walk away. To my disappointment, he took his shirtless chest with him.
"I'm taking a shower," his voice thick with amusement.
"Mmmhh," I muttered, staring transfixed at the hard muscles of his back as he walked down the hall. He disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him. Once Gaara was out of sight, I covered my face with a groan. When the sound of the water hitting the tiles reached me I blushed brightly, knowing that meant that he must have shed the last of his clothes. I swear that boy is gonna be the death of me one of these days…
AN: I know this was short, but the chapters here are not intended to be long. I'm still not very happy with this one.