Disclaimer: You know that really popular manga/anime called Naruto? I don't own it.

Warnings: AU so people are going to be a bit OOC, Un beta'd but I did go through it with my trusty friend Word Spellchecker a couple of times.

-:- The Hidden Sides -:-

Part one: Sympathy For The Dead

Chapter III: Invited

He is running.

Every breath he takes burns his throat and his legs hurt but he has to keep running. His mouth is filled with the bitter taste of blood and he feels like he is about to throw up any second now but he can't stop, If he does those hunting him will win for sure. T

he scent of murky water hangs in the air and when he looks down at his feet he can see the ground is covered by a layer of rain. Water stings his skin as it propels from the sky but he has to keep running, faster, always faster. He skids around a corner and there he is, the man with the cold eyes. The man smiles but the smile just won't stop growing. It crawls up his cheeks towards his ears and then it opens, slowly the sharp teeth beneath break apart, strands of drool still connecting them. '

Be careful on your way home…it's a bad neighborhood' the voice echoes through the alley as he turns around and starts running again. The water splash around his feet and he feels himself slowing down as the surface slowly but surely rises. He keeps running but the alley is a never ending labyrinth, every corner reveals new paths and dead ends. The liquid around his body is darkening quickly and he can tell, from the warmth and the metallic smell, that it's not water anymore.

'It's a bad neighborhood' His feet has stopped moving and the liquid rapidly draws him in deeper. 'Be careful' it reaches his chest 'be careful' his neck 'BE CAREFUL!' He's sinking, no falling, fast towards the bottom. His landing is hard, the wooden floor beneath his body scorching hot.

Cries of pain mingle with sad howls and his little body shakes with fear. The foul stench of burning fur makes him throw up as he feels their fear and anger growing by the minute. He can see them throwing themselves into the flames where their enemy is hiding. A heavy body lands beside him and he feels a shrill cry forcing itself through his sore throat. Blue eyes stare at him frightened and the voice is sharp as a whiplash 'Get out of here, hide somewhere safe. Run!' he has no choice but to obey that voice.

His mouth tastes like blood and his heart is ticking fast, fast. He hugs himself tightly and keeps his frightened eyes glued on the door. The handle pushes down and a whimper passes his lips before he has time to stop it. Soundlessly the door opens and he presses his eyes shut in a last attempt to escape. But then a faint scent reaches him through the rest and he feels relief wash over him as that soft warmth he's so familiar with lifts him up and carries him away from the chaos.

'I need you to promise you'll take care of him.' He is held tightly as she talks to someone.

'If I do this I will consider my debt to you cleared' he does not know this voice but he feels her nod in answer to it. The crystal of his, no wait, her necklace dingles from the movement and he grabs it as he hold his ear tightly pressed to her body, listening to her heart beating; hopeful, afraid and relieved at the same time but then he is torn away from her and he struggles against the grip but can do nothing as she walks away from him.

He is running.

'Be careful' the voice bounces of the walls of the alley that towers above him and he quickly turns yet another corner. He is looking for someone, someone important. He turns right and comes face to face with himself.

A mirror. Slowly he steps closer and puts his hand on the glass following the reflections arm up to meet with a pair of green eyes. The boy on the other side is not alone. A dark silhouette wraps its arms around the boy's chest and suddenly he's having trouble breathing. He turns around but there's nothing behind him.

'Help me' the two words taking shape over and over again on the boy's lips. He wants to, no, he has to find a way to help. He hammers his hands hard on the glass as the boy keeps calling out for him. Then a crack appears and he watches horrified as the crack grows, splitting the boy on the other side into pieces. He knows then who the boy is and as the fractured shards come crashing down around him they are crying out for him. 'Naruto… Naruto… Naruto!'

Gaara winced as he put a bit too much weight on his left arm; it still hadn't fully healed from the last time he was home. His master had had a fit when he found out that Gaara was still following Naruto around but after punishing him several times without the result he was looking for he seemed to have changed his mind. Gaara was still reprimanded for showing such great interest in a single human but at the same time it seemed to amuse his master. For now, as long as he returned home when he was told to do so, his master let him be.

The climb up to Narutos window was hard but not impossible and it was well worth the effort to see his blond up close. A couple of minutes ago he had stirred and kicked the cover out of the bed but now he seemed to be deep asleep again. He was sprawled out on his stomach, wearing only a pair of pajamas pants, and even through the blue hues of night there seemed to linger some golden glow in his skin and hair.

Naruto always looked so calm when he was asleep and Gaara sometimes felt himself wonder what it felt like to dream as Naruto did. It was such an easy thing to take for granted, dreaming, and back when he still did he had never paid them any attention. It had been months since he slept the last time, his body had no need for sleep anymore. He was still able to, but even when he did sleep the dreams seemed to have gone away forever. Now he just closed his eyes and then woke up again at the time he had decided to, it was like his body kept track of the time by itself. It didn't matter for how long he had been without, or for how long he intended to stay asleep, he always woke up the exact time he had told himself to. It wasn't really so that he missed his dreams but they had been part of his old self and therefore he felt sad to find himself without them.

A small jolt suddenly traveled through the sleeping body and Gaara frowned as he watched Naruto start tossing and turning on the bed. He put his hands against the glass of the window and tried to ignore the small stinging in his palms telling him he didn't have permission to get any closer.

Gaara knew a nightmare when he saw one and instantly wanted to reach inside the room and wake Naruto up but his stinging palms told him it would be impossible.

Sweat glittered on the golden skin and it hurt him to just watch but at the same time he couldn't turn his eyes away from the sight. A whimpering sound reached his ears and Gaara's throat painfully constricted as he watched a tear trickle down Naruto's face.

Something happened then, for a short moment the image of another crying blond overlapped the present and nausea spread through his body before the image was pushed away. He frowned, he wasn't allowed to go there. It wasn't safe.

Another whimper reached him and he momentarily closed his eyes to try and shield himself. Naruto was crying.

His Naruto was crying and Gaara couldn't do anything to stop it. Just like before.

Deep blue eyes brimmed with tears and he had to make them stop. He needed to make them stop before something bad happened. Something, anything. He just needed the crying to stop.

Pain shot through his arm and Gaara blinked rapidly a couple of times to make sense of what was happening. Inside the window Naruto suddenly sat up in the bed and climbed out of it.

Gaara felt confused, the crying was gone but what had he done to make it go away? He held up his hand and looked at it, had he been pounding the window? He grabbed his head with his hand and tried to think. There was something not right with his memory, it kept throwing him of balance and making him space out short periods of time, he knew it was his masters fault somehow.

Gaara frowned and fought the increasing nausea. His master had done something and he wanted to know what but every time he tried to think about it the nausea forced him to stop before he could figure anything out. He sighed and shook his head, it was best to not think about it at all.

The glass under his other hand moved and Gaara jerked his head up only to find himself face to face with Naruto. He knew he should run away, he should run away fast as hell and hope that the blond would have forgotten about him in the morning.

'Run, get out of here now!' his mind was frantic but Gaara just couldn't tear himself away. Instead he watched as a smile grew on Naruto's face.

It was the same smile as before. Despite the weeks that had passed it hadn't changed. In the blue hues of Narutos eyes Gaara could see himself and the same strange calmness he had been searching for since their first meeting returned. He wasn't a monster, just himself, just -

"Gaara!"

He barely had time to react before Naruto grabbed him and tried to pull him in through the window. He struggled to get away, ready for the excruciating pain of the curse to strike him any second but Naruto had the advantage and Gaara felt his weakened left arm being pulled inside. He snapped his eyes closed in an attempt to block out the inevitable pain.

But nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened and he found himself releasing a deep breath, momentarily relaxing. He shouldn't have. Next thing he knew he was forcefully yanked through the window and ended up crashing to the floor with Naruto beneath him.

His first reaction was to immediately get as far away as possible but when he looked down on Naruto's face that changed. The bright blue eyes were closed and Naruto still hadn't moved at all.

"Naruto?" his voice was low at first but grew in strength each time he repeated the name, shaking the blonde's shoulders fiercely. He had to wake up, any moment now he would come back to consciousness and it would be alright again.

Guilt spread bitterly in his mouth, followed by that peculiar feeling he always felt accompany his hunger. He vaguely felt his arm heal itself and panic crawled in his muscles, urging him to try harder. He called out Narutos name again and forced himself to stop shaking the blonds shoulders. What if he had gotten a concussion? Then he had just made it worse. Gaara cursed and picked Naruto up from the floor, if Naruto had a concussion he needed a hospital, there was no way he was going to leave his Naruto like this.

Gaara was already halfway to the window when a small sound made him freeze up. He frowned and looked down at Naruto in his arms, what he had heard just now couldn't be real; it had to be his imagination. But then Naruto shifted ever so slightly and the sound came again. Gaara felt his eyebrow twitch, Naruto was snoring.

Unceremoniously he dumped Narutos sleeping form back on the bed and walked back to the window. He shouldn't stay any longer, he knew this but when he turned his head to get one last glance of Naruto he sighed in defeat and slowly sat down on the floor.

He shouldn't stay, but he wanted to.

Naruto opened his eyes and stared emptily up at the roof while waiting for the last pieces of his conscious to fall back into place. He had always been a heavy sleeper and needed time to collect himself after waking up.

'There's someone else here'

Naruto didn't move, the feeling that had struck him the moment he opened his eyes told him the thought that had just crossed his mind was true, he couldn't see or hear them but he just knew he wasn't alone. He knew the fact that there was someone else in his bedroom in the middle of the night should scare him but the fear never came. He supposed, since this someone didn't feel like a threat, that it didn't make much of a difference, it was just another fact about his surroundings falling into place as his mind woke up.

Sitting up slowly he immediately spotted his visitor sitting beneath the bedroom window. For a short moment it made Naruto consider the possibility that he was still asleep. He had been waiting and wishing for Gaara to return such a long time that it seemed surreal to see him leaning against the wall in the exact same way he had been a month ago, like the image of Gaara in his mind had somehow escaped and decided to settle down in his room instead.

But he wasn't asleep; although Naruto wasn't sure he could say the same thing about his guest. Despite him rustling the sheets and moving around in the creaking bed Gaara hadn't moved at all. Naruto didn't want to disturb him and was considering crawling back under the covers, waiting until Gaara woke up by himself, but he just couldn't resist whispering his name.

"Gaara?" a pair of green eyes opened and caught his own a moment before slowly closing again, the only sign the redhead had heard him at all.

"You came back." Naruto could feel the smile growing on his face as Gaara opened his eyes to look at him again.

"Yeah"

The green of Gaaras eyes seemed almost glowing in the moonlight but his voice sounded tired and he still hadn't moved from his position under the window. He seemed to be a bit smaller than Naruto remembered him to be but maybe that was just because the clothes he had on wasn't his size. Gaara was still wearing the clothes he had borrowed from him and while Naruto was a bit bulkier than Gaara he was also shorter which made the sweatpants Gaara had on a bit too short and the T-shirt a bit too lose.

It did look a bit funny and Naruto probably would have giggled at the sight if it wasn't for the uncomforting feeling settling in his stomach. Gaara still had his clothes on because Naruto still had Gaaras packed away in his room along with his shoes and jacket. Naruto looked at Gaara's naked arms and feet and shivered slightly, it had to be freezing walking around like that, no wonder Gaara decided to come back.

"I still have all your clothes… " he quickly brought them over to Gaara who just kept looking at him strangely.

"Here, just take them." Carefully he took back the clothes and gave Naruto a small nod as thanks. Naruto could sense that Gaara was tense about something but at least he hadn't tried to leave yet which had to be a good sign.

After staring at each other for a while he sat down next to Gaara and absently scratched the back of his head like he always did when he was nervous. "So… how long have you been sitting here?"

Gaara shrugged slightly and shook his head.

Naruto sighed silently and stared up at the ceiling. There were tons of questions buzzing inside his head that he wanted but couldn't ask because he was certain it would make Gaara leave. He really wanted to help somehow but for once he had no idea of what he should do to make it better. Usually he wouldn't even have to think about it, he just instinctively knew what the people around him needed him to say or do but with Gaara it was different. He still sensed things about the other but it wasn't the same, like he needed to learn a whole new language in order to understand the boy beside him.

He turned his head to Gaara and smiled "I'm glad you came back" it was the truth. Having Gaara back really did make him happy.

The body next to his shifted and Naruto could tell that he had just made Gaara feel uncomfortable; he probably believed he would try and force him to stay again. Sure, he wanted to, but he would never actually do it. From the experience he had with Neji he knew that he would never be able to do something unless Gaara was willing to accept his help. Right now, the only thing he wanted was to spend some time with Gaara, get to know him better.

"I should go" Gaara suddenly stood up and turned to the window but there was something hesitant in his movements like he wanted to offer Naruto a chance to object.

"If I promise not to ask any questions, will you stay?"

The green eyes immediately shifted to him and Naruto could clearly see Gaara struggling to make a decision. Anger and frustration played in the green before quickly shifting to confusion and something like fear.

"I promise I won't ask about stuff, just stay for a while." Naruto grabbed gaara's wrist and gently held him in place.

Gaara frowned "Why?"

"Because I missed talking to you"

The green eyes stared at him confused but there was no resistance when he tugged the arm he was holding to make Gaara sit down again. "Ok?"

The redhead was quiet but then Naruto could see a small smile play at the corners of his lips as he nodded and finally seemed to relax. "Ok."

"Is that your family?"

Naruto paused in the middle of a sentence, surprised by the question since it was the first thing Gaara had said longer than two words since Naruto convinced him to stay. He followed the Redheads gaze to the picture on his nightstand and smiled.

"Yeah it is. At least I guess you could say so"

Gaara nodded, still staring at the picture and leaned his head slightly to the side.

Curious. Naruto smiled again as he reached for the photo and handed it over. He was definitely getting better at reading Gaara already.

"Ok so here's Sasuke." His finger gently tapped the glass of the frame, surprised by how carefully Gaara held it. As if he knew how much Naruto treasured it. "I still think you two should meet sometime. He does come off as an arrogant jerk to most but once you get to know him you learn to ignore that. He believes I made you up by the way."

Gaara quirked and eyebrow and smirked at him. "Maybe you did."

Naruto just shrugged and moved his finger over the photo again. "This here is Sakura. We spent all our time together at one of the orphanages before she got adopted; we were like the soap-opera version of the three musketeers … or something."

Gaara cocked his head in question and Naruto felt himself blush slightly.

"It's kind of stupid but we were just kids back then so um..yeah." He took a short breath "I liked her, she thought I was an annoying idiot. She in turn liked Sasuke who hated her because she kept following him around all the time and was pissed at her because I wanted to spend time with her instead of him."

He always felt slightly embarrassed thinking back on his childish crush and how he had terrorized Sakura with all kinds of silly actions to prove his undying love for her.

"Anyway, a couple of months later Kakashi" he touched the picture again "shows up and adopts her away from us and we didn't see her again for almost seven years. She used to be this really sweet sort of shy girl but she's changed a lot since then, I guess we all did, anyway if you ever meet her don't make her angry at you. She's lethal, seriously. Kakashi is head of the canine unit here in Konoha and he has taught her tons of self defense and martial arts stuff."

"So you don't like him?" Gaara frowned at the image of the man, like he was considering whether or not he should dislike Kakashi too.

"What? No, I do. Kakashi's really great, a bit quirky sometimes but once you get past that he's pretty cool. He's the one that fixed so that Sasuke and I could have this apartment and stuff." Naruto hurriedly explained. The idea of Gaara disliking someone out of principle because he did was kind of amusing, apparently the redhead was fiercely loyal once you got him on your side, but in this case it wasn't needed.

He took the photo back from Gaara and looked down at the odd figure who was Kakashi, smiling while letting his memories take him back in time.

"You know, the first time we met was just a couple of years ago. It's sort of funny actually, Sasuke and I was on the run from this really creepy guy we lived with back then and then we ended up getting talked into doing this warehouse break in thing. It didn't go very well, before we knew it these huge dogs were coming right at us. And that was the end of our careers as master criminals."

Gaara quirked one of his eyebrow slightly "You tried to rob a warehouse?"

Naruto laughed a bit embarrassed, in hindsight the whole thing sounded stupid even to his ears, and felt his face heat up a bit.

"Well yeah but that's not the point. The point is that Sasuke and I were convinced we were going to get sent right back to the creep we had run from , that's what any normal person would have done but instead Kakashi made sure the creep lost custody over us and signed us up for this experimental support program social services was trying out. So instead of going to prison we get to have our own place and take care of ourselves provided we show up for our 'support sessions' three times a week."

He let his eyes sweep across his room and noticed Gaara mimicking his actions. "It's not much, this place, I know, but it's ours you know?" His voice trailed off "I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"It must be nice…"

Naruto just barely caught the silent words and had to bite the inside of his cheek not to let out any of the questions tickling his tongue. Where did Gaara live? Was he alone? Did he have a family, if so, where were they? The dark rings round them made his green eyes seem so solemn and Naruto immediately tried to find something to talk about that would take away that look, if only for a moment.

He put the picture back on the nightstand and took out another which he handed to Gaara. He seemed happy as long as Naruto kept talking so that was what he was going to do and there really wasn't anything he enjoyed talking about more than his friends.

The photo was his second favorite to the one he had just shown, everyone of his closest friends present and looking genuinely happy joking around in the luxury suite of the old hotel.

"Ok so Sakura and Sasuke you already know, the pineapple head over here's –"

"Who is he?" Gaara's short tone cut him off and Naruto was surprised to see him pointing at Neji.

"Neji, what about him?"

"Is he your friend?" The tone of Gaara's voice was suddenly guarded and settled cold inside Narutos stomach. So Neji really had been asking about Gaara earlier and now Gaara asked about him in return but Naruto has no idea why and it unsettled him.

"Yes, he is." Naruto noticed Gaara frowning at his answer and immediately it triggered something defensive in him. Because Neji was his friend, Neji was his friend who has been through tons of shit and doesn't deserve people frowning at the sound of his name.

"He was asking about you. How do you know each other?" His tone came out short and he doesn't notice how his question makes Gaara tense.

"We don't." Green eyes lingered on his face and the thousand questions fighting for space inside his mind must have shown on his face because as he stands up Gaara shrugs slightly. "I've just seen him around sometimes."

Naruto watched silently as Gaara looked out the window before turning towards him. "I have to go"

"Why?"

At first he thinks Gaara isn't going to answer his question but the redhead pauses in the middle of changing clothes. "I have to be back before Shukaku wakes up"

Naruto didn't need an explanation to know who Gaara was talking about; the image of those cold eyes forced a disgusted shiver down his spine.

"Ok" He swallowed his feeling as he stood up to face Gaara "just promise that you'll come back."

A warmth he hadn't seen before passed in the green eyes and Gaara gave him a small nod before he climbed out the window into the soft grey hues that signaled the dawn of a new day.

Author's notes: First I want to give a HUGE thanks to Talentless Freak, YamiTenshi , experiment13 and TigrezzTail who sent me a review for the last post, you rock!

Second I am really, really sorry that it has taken me this long to update. Gomen!! There's a good explanation though, last month I had a minor skiing accident causing a tendon in my thumb to snap. That coupled with the usual hindrance called real life (homework, friendship drama etc. you know the drill) equals painfully slow progress in writing this story :/

The good news is that not being able to write as much as I want somehow seemed to increase the number of plot bunnies in my head. So once my hand is functioning as it's supposed to again I have several ideas for fics just waiting to be written ^^

I love you guys, thank you so much for reading.

AN#2: Just fixed some small errors (24/3 2010) thanks goes to YamiTenshi for pointing it out to me