yo, betches. we've gots another chappie for ya -le gasp-

it was only going to be a short chit-chat between out two main charas, but it ended up going on longer than i expected. but it got kinda interesting, so it's all good. onward, then, i guess.

Chapter 3

As luck would have it, Gaara wasn't woken up by Sasuke, but rather by his internal clock. Better than yesterday, he thought.

What, kid? I know you were hoping it would be that boy again. You love to torture him, don't you? The voice cackled deeply.

Love. You imbecile, you know that can never happen. Gaara sneered; love was one concept he knew of, but it was not something that was part of anything involving him. Even if he did highly enjoy the physical torture of others, especially the raven, "love" was not the word to describe it.

Call it what you will, but your excitement during your sessions speaks for itself.

Gaara could see the voice's toothy grin, but he chose to ignore it. He had more important things to do than argue with it. The voice would never secede, especially if it was losing the battle. Nearly all his memorable life the redhead had fought with the thing, but as he grew older, he knew it was better to ignore it most of the time. If he succumbed to it and became engrossed in the conversation, he would end up losing contact with reality for various periods of time—this wasn't a good thing once he began attending school. He accepted the voice as a part of himself, but nothing more; despite others' speculations, he did not have dual personality disorder, just possibly schizophrenia depending on the therapist's personal opinion.

Still shutting the voice out, he climbed from his bed and quickly changed into yet another set of dark clothes, this time his color focus being on a deep burgundy rather than a red. Though, it didn't hit him until he glanced at his faint reflection in the window that his shirt said "Fuck you" in large red letters. Quietly growling to himself for having such a cliché shirt, he slipped on his System of a Down hoodie again. He glanced at the clock; it was still fairly early. Good, he though, not many people will be up yet.

Sliding the strap of his bag over his shoulder, Gaara headed out of the room. Right into another person. He stumbled and fell over onto the floor.

"Woah, sorry 'bout that," a slightly cheerful voice chimed.

Gaara didn't respond, and shook his head a bit.

"Oh, jeez, are you okay!?"

A tanned hand appeared in the readhead's vision. Ignoring it, he pulled himself up. "Watch it," he snapped.

"Oh, hey, you're Gaara!" the blonde teen in front of him exclaimed. "I'm really sorry about that," he explained, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Unimpressed, Gaara turned his icy glare to the boy, "Everyone knows me, Uzumaki."

"I didn't, not until my...uhh...not friend explained it to me." He laughed nervously.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Oh, it was the homosexual freak, wasn't it?" Gaara leaned in closer, continuing, "Did he give you all the details?"

"Umm...maybe? He told me to stay away from you though." He paused for a second before finishing, "Which I'm not doing now..."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Gaara asked, narrowing his eyes. He knew the raven would blab to the sunny teen in front of him when he had left the two in the abandoned classroom.

"Honestly," Naruto began, "you don't really scare me that much. You probably could kill me if you really wanted to anyway from what I hear."

The blood-haired teen found himself smirking again. "Don't scare you...well...that's a first, I have to admit."

"Well, there's always room for a first," he commented while slipping his jacket on.

What an odd person, Gaara thought. "Ineresting..." he finally mumbled.

"What'd I do now?" the blonde asked while zipping up his jacket. "I'm annoying you, aren't I?"

A twisted expression formed over the ice-eyed teen's face. "Annoying? Well, I'd have to say yes...but I still find it intriguing that the Uchiha is so enamored with you to have..." His voice trailed off as he remembered some things Sasuke had said to him in the past. He could almost hear the raven squealing, "My Naru's the cutest, Gaara, you don't even KNOW!" or sometimes, "When I'm with Neji, I always am thinking of my Naru!" several times over. "...well," he continued, "it was his own fault."

"Hey, I know he's annoying, but it's really no reason to hurt people. Hell, you seem to be the only person who hates him more than me."

This time Gaara nearly chuckled. "No reason? I have plenty of reasons Uzumaki. Did he tell you why? He should know."

Naruto frowned, "I don't believe he did. It is Sasuke though, so he probably was just trying to make me feel sorry for him." He sighed, "Fucking fag..."

The redhead could feel this conversation was peaking his interest. He usually never deigned to talk so much within a month even, but this was a special occasion. "I bet he bawled his eyes you to you, didn't he?" He stepped closer to Naruto, smirking a bit once again. "I bet he cried to you after that, didn't he? I bet he told you I was a monster, didn't he?"

Naruto looked Gaara in the eye. "That about covers everything he called you, but don't go attacking him for that. It's just words. You learn to live with being called a monster after a while."

Gaara leaned in even further, his face now mere inches from the blonde's. "I couldn't care less about that. I know I am one." He narrowed his eyes, "It's his incessant prattle. Nonstop. He just had to tell me about his homosexual escapades. Whether it was chasing after you or fucking that long-haired boy I now share a room with, he told me all of it." The redhead was rising in volume through this, but paid no notice to it.

"Look," Naruto began, "I don't really think you're a monster to start off with. I think you're more...misunderstood! People like to fear what they don't understand. But I'm probably being stupid again. Secondly, Sasuke's an idiot."

Gaara twitched a bit. "You..." he began, backing off slightly, "...you are an interesting one, Uzumaki."

"Uhh...thanks?" Naruto seemed unsure how to take the comment. "I really was just saying what I thought...and you can just call me by my first name..."

The redhead stared at the tanned teen in front of him for a few seconds, thinking carefully, before smirking yet again. "And here I thought this whole time you were just playing hard to get with the Uchiha..." he mumbled mostly to himself. "Intriguing...Naruto..." He cocked his head to one side like some kind of animal. "Truly interesting."

Naruto looked a bit flustered. "Playing hard to get!? Oh God, no. I'd rather jump off a cliff than be with him. I have nothing against him being gay, just him stalking me and not listening no matter how much I tell him I don't like him are the problems."

"The Uchiha never learns from his...mistakes either." The redhead shifted his weight onto the opposite foot. "You're definitely...not bad, Naruto." This conversation was giving him minor enjoyment, but it was getting time to end this unnecessary chatting.

"You're not so bad yourself," Naruto commented. He absentmindedly pushed up his sleeves of his jacket, but pushed them back down again after glancing at his arms. "So...uhh...nice to meet you?"

Gaara saw the marks on the boy's wrists, and the cuts were fairly fresh. It brought some pleasure to the blood-haired teen as he thought of the slitting of Naruto's wrists. He smirked, "I...see," he mumbled before turning to leave. "Goodbye...Naruto."

"Hey, wait!" the blonde piped up behind him. "Don't attack Sasuke anymore, please...I don't want him to start crying to me again."

Gaara stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I can't promise that. But...who knows..." he continued, turning away from Naruto again, "he might not be able to cry to you next time."

"Woah, wait!" Naruto cried desperately. "Don't kill him either! I don't want you getting in trouble because Sasuke's a dumbass."

Gaara turned completely around at this point. "Oh, really...I thought that you'd want to be rid of him."

"It's not worth you getting into trouble," he said.

The pale teen stepped back towards him, "You're quite involved in other's issues, ne?" he said. "Why me?"

"Like I said: I'm not afraid of you. I think you're misunderstood," he responded firmly. "You're not the only one who's been called a monster before; us monsters have to stick together!" Naruto looked somehow cheerful, for a second, but absentmindedly he drug his hand over the triad of whisker markings on his cheek.

Gaara moved in close again, frustrated at this boy's words. "Uzu-...Naruto...what the hell could you possibly know?"

Cerulean eyes bored deep into jade ones. "Being hated and ignored by everyone I know most of my life? I think that qualifies."

Feeling his composure fall slightly, Gaara quickly adjusted himself. "You say that, but I doubt you'd understand."

Naruto began to speak, but was stopped by a sharp gasp. The two turned to see a very pale Sasuke standing not too far away. Gaara smirked a bit, and had begun to turn away when the raven began to speak.

"Nooooo Naru! I told you! I told you before! Why won't you listen!" His frantic cries raised in pitch as he continued.

Suddenly, Gaara felt a fairly strong hand close around his wrist, and then it began to drag him down the hall away from the squealing raven. In his confusion, he allowed himself to be dragged off by the blonde, even though the pale teen had fully intended to end the conversation and find some quiet in the abandoned classroom.

oOoOoOo

Gaara pulled his wrist free. "You better have a good excuse for this Uzumaki," he snapped. He was back to calling Naruto by his last name.

"I'm not sure really," Naruto admitted. "I wanted to continue our conversation. When someone gets you talking about things you never like to talk about you tend to not want other people to hear. Especially that teme," he attempted to explain.

The jade eyes narrowed. "I understand that point I guess...but I'm still confused as to what could possibly be such a touchy subject, Uzumaki."

Gaara seemed to be prying; Naruto was getting a bit annoyed with him calling him by his last name. It seemed too formal. "Ugh...call me by my first name!" he begged. "As for touchy subjects you seem to have a few yourself," the blonde pried right back.

The tone in the young redhead's voice was getting angry. "Na-ru-to," he began, emphasizing each syllable, "you have no idea what you're digging into."

"Neither do you," Naruto shot back. "I may seem all smiley and happy, but I do have some secrets locked away."

The red-haired boy frowned slightly. "You couldn't possibly have anything...no...it's…"

As he trailed off, Gaara's eyes become out of focus and he didn't seem to be completely there anymore. Naruto waved his hand in the readhead's face. "Hey Gaara? Are you okay?" he asked loudly.

Said smaller boy then whirled around and suddenly tackled Naruto. "No...no...you couldn't know...no one does...no one does…" he held Naruto down. His grip was strong, and the blonde squirmed a bit in his grasp.

"Gaara. calm down! No one knows what? Please let go of my wrists and tell me what's wrong!" Naruto was begging the boy above him.

Gaara began screaming and pulling his hair while moving off of Naruto. "No...no...noooo.…" He was writhing on floor.

Naruto began trying to hold him steady. "Dude, what's wrong? You need to calm down! 'No' what?"

He began to worry as Gaara muttered incoherently to himself. Then, after a few moments of silence, his eyes began to focus again and he calmed some, but he was breathing heavily.

"What…" Gaara stopped a moment to catch his bearings in the dark room. "What just happened…"

"You kinda screamed 'No one knows' repeatedly and tackled me then fell on the floor screaming 'No no no'…" Naruto explained bluntly.

Gaara clamped his mouth shut and thought for a minute. "...it...it happened again...damn him…" he mumbled to himself before glancing up at Naruto. "...could you let me go…?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Naruto sighed and let go the boy. He then looked down and noticed Gaara's hoodie begin to be stained red. "Wait...where did that come from?" he questioned.

Gaara's icy glare dug into Naruto. "It's not important," he replied as he began to dig through his bag.

"If you say so." Naruto was still a bit worried as he pulled his sleeves down again.

Gaara snorted at his actions. "You know hiding them is useless, Naruto," he said apathetically as he pulled out gauze from messenger bag.

Naruto tried to look innocent. "What?"

Gaara seemed like he was trying to chuckle, but it came out as a cough. "You know, the marks."

Naruto almost thought he heard him mumbling "beautiful cuts" as he pulled his shirt up and began to peel off the bloodied bandage. He inwardly cursed himself for forgetting to bandage his arms after he got out of the shower that morning. DAMNIT! I tried so hard to keep them hidden and he sees. Ugh. I don't even understand why I've been cutting more. Naruto had begun slitting his wrists more often than before. "Y-your the first one to actually notice.." he said in a low tone. Well it looks like he has some issues too.

Gaara winced as the bandage was pulled away "Then people are blind."

Maybe your just more observant, he thought. "Would you like some help?" he asked.

Gaara thought for a second as he started to clean the now-visible stitched-up red line across his stomach. "If you want to help, get me some water or something."

"Sure." Naruto ran to sink in dark room and filled chemical tray with water.

Gaara took the tray silently, and wiped off the blood before re-wrapping his wound. "Naruto…"

"Yeah?"

"You…" Gaara paused. "You are smarter than I had thought," he said quietly.

"Heh, everyone usually thinks I'm stupid." Naruto went up to his photos and placed the dry ones in a folder.

Gaara seemed to be watching intently while he absentmindedly packed the medical supplies back in his bag. "Uchiha doesn't know this hobby, does he?"

"No one does really..." Changing the subject he continued on, "I just thought while we were here I could finish. I was on my way here when I ran into you."

Gaara continued to silently watch for a few minutes before he shakily stood up. "You puzzle me, Naruto."

"Well your confusing yourself. You had a breakdown in my dark room and then get up like it's nothing."

"That...may be...but it was nothing. But you...I'm not sure what to make of you," the readhead mumbled.

"I'm just full of surprises." Naruto messed with the film in his camera and placed it into the chemicals.

Gaara closed eyes for a moment. "I've never known someone to say they're unphased by me."

"Is that bad? Wouldn't you like to have at least one friend?"

Gaara looked confused. "Friend? W-why?"

Naruto was a bit shocked. "You seem to be like me more than you believe to be, and being alone is never that fun."

Gaara sat down and shut his eyes tightly. "Being alone is best. Best for me. Best for them."

"You can't say what's best for me! I want to be your friend!" Naruto stopped what he was doing and glanced up at Gaara.

The other boy was a bit taken aback and began blushing very, very slightly Naruto didn't see, though, being that they were in a dark room

"...N-Naruto," Gaara began.

"Yes?" He answered as he went back to work and hung up his photos.

"I...I..." Gaara stopped and shook his head. "...N-never mind." He stood and headed to the door.

"WAIT!" Naruto almost shouted and ran in front of the door. "You have to wait! The light will mess up my pictures."

Gaara stopped short and looked panicky like a trapped animal.

Naruto noticing this began to apologize. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep you locked up in here, but could you wait maybe ten minutes for me to clean this up?" he begged.

The aquamarine eyes flashed between Naruto, the door, and Naruto's projects before backing off and moving as far away from the boy as he could. "B-be quick." he said with hollow sharpness.

"Are you okay?" Naruto questioned before apologizing again as cleaned up the chemicals and such. "Don't be mad at me."

Gaara said nothing, but just sat silently, watching intently.

Great...he is mad at me! Naruto thought. Minutes passed by before the blue eyed boy spoke again. "There all done. I'm really sorry," he said, apologizing for a third time.

The Gaara then escaped without further conversation.

"You did it again Naruto," he mumbled, talking to himself. "You ruined your chance at ever making friends with anyone!"

Stupid child.

"I know...monsters can't have friends...but...but I still...would like one." He finished in almost a whisper. Oh well, he thought, forcing himself to look happier. No need dwell on what you can't have. Naruto put on his famous grin, grabbed his camera and folder, and went back up to his room, making sure to lock the door behind him.

meeeeeh. it was a fun chapter. almost entirlely roleplay :D

i don't know if you picked it up, but there's some hidden meaning behind what Gaara's inner voice says in the beginning of the chapter. and if you're cringing a bit right now as you think of it, you're probably thinking right. if you don't get it, the concept will be spelled out in later chapter(s).