Chapter3

After a while Helen slumped in the arms of her dearest friend, the adrenaline in her veins had worn off and she felt the pain shooting up her arm and her head felt like it was spinning just before everything went black.

"Helen?" Naruto whispered, holding on to her small frame tighter. It took a second for him to remember what she had done. When she lunged, her arm got in front of mine and I…I. "oh gods, Helen!" he leg go of Gaara and guided the little wolf to the bed. He gently took her left hand and saw the damage, the deep gash on her forearm covered in surrounded by drying blood. He began to cry again.

He had all but forgotten Gaara until a soft squeeze on his shoulder caused him to look up, his remorseful blues meeting teal.

"let me see Naruto." the red head said softly, gently pushing Naruto to the side. When Naruto had let him go, the sand nin went to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit all shin obi had. He came back after the fox had started to cry and had to hold his own tears back for their sakes.

Naruto scooted closer to Helen's head and his hand was replaced with Gaara's as said ninja examined the wound.

"she doesn't heal as fast as you, but it's healing all the same." he stated, glancing at the blond before opening the kit and pulling out the gauze and bandages and set to work.

"she's jealous of that about me, but she heals better with the 5 tails' influence. " Naruto muttered with a bitter laugh as he moved a few strands of hair from her face.

As Gaara looked from his work to Helen's face, he saw Naruto's fingers graze across the scar on her face that he had noticed earlier that day as they were walking.

"did you know I did this shortly after getting back?" the blond whispered in a broken voice, "all she was trying to do was wake me up from a bad dream and when I did wake up, it was dark and I grabbed a kunai I keep under my pillow and swung it. She tried to move out of the way, but wasn't able to avoid it completely." he bowed his head, shaking it in awe. "she wasn't even mad, she just bandaged it up and worried about me and the stupid nightmare."

Gaara watched as Naruto leaned over and kissed Helen's forehead lightly. The red head felt a pang of jealousy at the action, but was unsure as to why or who he was jealous of.

"Gaara?"

The sand nin snapped out of his thoughts, not realizing he had zoned out, "hmm?" he replied.

"do you like her?"

"what do you mean Naruto?"

"just in general. I mean you know I love you right?"

Gaara caressed Naruto's cheek and leaned in close to the blond and kissed his lips softly then leaned back.

"yes, as I love you." he whispered. "and yes I like her, she's a bit like both of us. But why do you ask?"

"just curious I guess."

"don't lie Naruto, you're not good at it."

Both ninjas looked down at Helen as she opened her eyes and took in both of her precious people.

"what do you mean Helen?" Gaara asked looking at Naruto with slightly narrowed eyes, as he took in the fact that Naruto lied to him about something.

"I forgot about that little ability of yours." Naruto muttered as he stood, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

He did truly forget about Helen's ability to detect lies and deceit. Thanks to her heightened senses, she could hear and smell a lie on someone. Or she could sense it in their aura as it tended to darken and become heavier with a lie. She used said ability during negotiations as she traveled or to tell if someone truly wanted to harm her or not to discern innocence of other wandering ninjas.

"Naruto." Gaara growled.

"there is a reason I asked you if you liked her, but please don't be mad." Naruto looked into Gaara's eyes which stared back warily.

"do you want me to explain, since I asked you the same thing?" Helen asked as she sat up and positioned herself Indian style, holding her left arm with her right hand over the bandaged wound.

"I'm confused, so are you asking me something, or her?" asked Gaara, sitting on the edge of the bed between Helen and Naruto, who had sunk to his knees and proped his head up with his chin in his hands.

"she is. Honestly this is the only thing that distracts me the longest from other… things." Naruto's voice dropped to a mutter towards the end of this statement.

"Gaara," Helen started and waited for the sand wielder to give her his full attention after he rested his right hand on Naruto's head. "I'm just going to say this bluntly, ok? So try not to freak out." she got off the bed and kneeled between her two friends, taking one of their hands into each of her own. "Gaara, do you think it's possible to love more than one person?" she asked, her crystal blue eyes studying his teal ones.

"why are you asking me this?" Gaara's voice wavered, immediately thinking he was the worst person to ask. He knew he cared for many people but loved few if only one, maybe two outside of his siblings.

"ok, I did say I was going to be blunt so here goes." Helen took a deep breath and glanced at their hands before continuing. "I love you. You and Naruto. "she looked once again into his eyes and then to Naruto's and back before finding their hands very interesting. "I want to be with you both, much more than friend wise."