A/N: Once again, thanks for all the reviews. Keep 'em coming!

After the seriousness of the end of last chapter I thought I'd let loose at the end of this one to keep you all hooked and entertained.

Make sure to review and let me know what you think of this chapter!

Stripping

Gaara wanted to die.

He genuinely would love to be knocked down by a random bus after the events of the previous night. He didn't know who he hated more- Naruto or himself.

It took a while for the redhead to really process everything that had happened during the night but now, as he sat in the same place as the previous morning beneath the tree, he could remember it all clearly. Gaara could remember waking up in the darkness again, he could remember Naruto's breathing failing to calm him this time, he remembered having the panic attack and suddenly falling into the arms of his roommate. He could even remember…

'Oh, shit. I fucking cried on him and everything!' He screamed in his head, remembering the way he had sobbed like a child whilst that idiotic blonde had held him. They'd known each other a day and Naruto had already seen something his siblings never had- him crying. He was doomed. His life was over. Dropping out of college and running home to Sunagakure wasn't enough at this stage. Killing Naruto was the only option. Now, Gaara often considered killing people but it was never serious, usually just an outlet for his frustration and anger. This was the first time he was genuinely compelled to take the life of another human being. Naruto knew too much…

That was it.

Gaara would either have to kill Naruto or himself. How else could he possibly cope after the embarrassing display during the night? He had cried like a wimpy little baby whilst 'big daddy Naruto' had hugged him! What sane person wouldn't consider what Gaara was at that moment? He knew he'd never actually kill himself…or…Naruto…but the idea did seem really appealing.

First he had started thinking Naruto was rather beautiful yesterday morning, and then he'd allowed the blonde to comfort him! No one had ever comforted Gaara, ever. Any problems in his life were kept private and dealt with by him and him alone. It was a system that worked. And the reason it worked so well was that he wasn't left confused and frustrated like he was right now! He'd even found himself wishing that he'd been calm enough to have checked out Naruto's body- seeing as it was obvious the blonde wasn't fully dressed during the comforting. What the hell was happening to him!? This wasn't normal!

'I have to drop out. The whole damn college will think I'm a cry baby before courses even start.'

"Hey, Gaara!"

"Fuck off!" The redhead shouted, this time his enraged thoughts actually leaving his mouth for once. Naruto's voice calling him was definitely not what he wanted to hear right now and yet- there it was!

"Wow, someone's grumpy."

'Grumpy!? Are you kidding me!?' Gaara turned and glared daggers at the approaching teen, hoping he'd disappear right there and then. He didn't want this to happen. He didn't want to be around Naruto anymore than completely necessary- for the sake of his own sanity.

"Go away." Gaara mumbled, turning away to stare at the sky. No sun this morning, just dark and murky clouds. A perfect and ironic advantage of pathetic fallacy- when the weather matches the mood.

"Aw, don't be like that." Naruto whined, plopping down next to the redhead on the grass. "I just wanted to have a chat."

"If you want to talk about last night, forget it." Gaara shot bluntly, practically snarling it. He just wanted it all to die down and fade into distant memory. That was it. But, obviously, Naruto wasn't the kind to let things blow over, he was the kind to confront things and talk about them. They really were opposites in every way.

"Well…as your roommate it's obviously something we need to chat about…" the blonde started, a little unsure of himself. "Doesn't have to be like, all in-depth and stuff, just the basics…"

Now Gaara was curious. Naruto wasn't mocking him, laughing at him or demanding to know the ins and outs. He was being realistic yet curious. Once again the idiot had surprised him…

With a sigh, the redhead finally gave in.

"What do you want to know?" He mumbled, avoiding looking at his roommate.

"Well…er, I dunno where to start." Naruto said, giving a weak chuckle. "What caused you to freak out?" And there it was- that damn question. Well, Gaara had come this far.

"The dark."

"The dark?" Naruto questioned, obviously slightly taken aback. Gaara, however, was still waiting for the laughter.

"I get anxious in the dark…cause I can't see what's going on around me. That's why I leave the lamp on so, when you turned it off and I woke up, I 'freaked out' because I couldn't see where I was or what was going on." Gaara explained, his embarrassment growing with every single word. He was trying his best to explain it in a way that didn't sound stupid or childish but he still suspected that his roommate would find it funny. Maybe he should have lied or something, at least then he wouldn't seem like such a fucking wim-

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Gaara turned, staring directly into Naruto's face. Had he heard right?

"I didn't know…I'm sorry about turning out the light and causing it all." Those blue eyes, shimmering with genuine regret and emotion, were staring straight into his. Naruto didn't have a smile on his face, but an expression Gaara couldn't quite work out…concern? He didn't know. Either way, the blonde wasn't laughing at him.

"That's…okay…" and, at that moment, Gaara realised something horrifying. He was making eye contact. Instantly, he tore his gaze away from those eyes and stared at the ground, a blush rising up on his cheeks once more. What was happening to him? What was it about Naruto that kept messing him up like this?

"So…from now on the lamp stays on. Do you ever get anxious and worried when the light is on?"

"Sometimes…" the redhead mumbled.

"Well, I want you to know that you can wake me up whenever you need to. I wanna be able to help you, Gaara."

"But why?" Gaara hissed, glancing towards the blonde for just a moment. He didn't understand why this moron cared so damn much.

"Because I've decided we're friends!" And there was that grin.

"Friends?"

"Yup! After last night we're officially friends! Only a friend would have comforted you and only a friend would have accepted it!"

"But…" Gaara thought it over, finding that his roommate was speaking a little sense for once. 'Damn logic.' This wasn't going how Gaara had planned it out. If the redhead tried killing Naruto now he'd feel guilty and bad after how nice his roommate had been. 'Well played, Uzumaki…well played.' Naruto hadn't ensured his survival with that show of friendship. For now. "Fine."

"YAY!" Naruto shouted excitedly, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder and laughing out loud as his happiness bubbled up. And, once again, Gaara was tempted to kill him. He could feel Naruto's strong bicep against the exposed flesh of his neck and he could smell the blonde's intoxicating scent…this was really getting annoying.

"Off." Gaara hissed, pushing his 'friend' away from him. "Let's keep the physical contact to a minimum."

"You didn't mind last night." Naruto teased, winking sneakily at the blush which flared up on that pale skin. Now he was pushing it. Reaching over, Gaara punched him in the arm roughly. "Ouch!" The blonde winced, rubbing the site of attack tenderly. "For a little guy, you hit damn hard."

"Don't forget it."

"Someone's looking smug," the smooth voice called out, interrupting Naruto's intense concentration. The blond smiled in response, dropping the weights, as a hand ruffled his hair teasingly. "Did my little Naruto get laid last night?"

"You know I didn't," The youth retorted, huffing in frustration as he swung round to face the woman. "Why do you bother asking, Ino?"

"Cause I love that cute pout of yours." She said with a smirk, throwing her friend a clean towel. Naruto quickly wiped the sweat from his face and neck, reaching for his water bottle as well. He'd been working out for a while now- something he tended to do when deep in thought- and he was well and truly exhausted. Taking a swig from his bottle, Naruto watched as Ino leaned on the bar, wearing a smile that told him she knew something.

"What?" He muttered, wiping some water from his chin.

"Yesterday Gaara couldn't stand you and then, this morning, you guys seemed to get on pretty well."

'How the hell does she know what went on this morning?!' Naruto asked, knowing full well he should be used to it by now.

"So…what happened last night?" Ah, so not even the all-knowing Ino knew what happened behind closed doors. Maybe if Gaara had some friends at college to tell, she'd have found out but now Naruto had the upper hand.

"Nothing you need to know." He teased, poking a tongue out to tease the knowledge-hungry woman. Unfortunately, being rather unobservant and clueless, Naruto hadn't realised just how bad that had sounded.

"You're definitely gonna have to clarify now or everyone's going to think you've taken a different turning at the fork in the road- gone for a tighter passage." She hummed amusedly, voice full of suggestion.

"Oh, shit." The blonde groaned, realising what he'd done. Sometimes he wished he was just a little bit smarter. "Nothing like that!" Ino merely giggled.

"Well?" She said, leaning in expectantly. He had no choice now.

"Well, Gaara sorta had a panic attack last night and I kinda…comforted him." Naruto explained, trying to word things carefully. "See, he gets freaked out in the dark so he left his lamp on and I just thought he forgot to turn it off so I did, so when he woke up in the dark he had a panic attack and it woke me up so I went over and gave him a hug and helped calm him down and then went back to bed. Then this morning I got him to accept that we're officially friends, ya know."

"Right," Ino said, nodding once. She was the only one who could truly follow Naruto's ramblings and make perfect sense of them- though it still took effort. "So you're getting on now then, huh? That's good."

"Yeah, but he hasn't opened up or acted any differently around me." Naruto said a little dejectedly.

"Well obviously. Not everyone's as open as you are, Naruto. It's gonna take a little time before he feels comfortable enough to do any of that stuff."

"Yeah, I know." The youth mumbled.

"Still, don't you think it's kind of odd that you're fussing over this so much?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow his way. "People are gonna get the wrong idea, including Gaara."

"Ya think?" Naruto asked, tilting his head at her in confusion and bewilderment with that puppy pout of his. Ino couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"Okay, I'm gonna explain this simply." She said, leaning in further. "Naruto, you are my friend and I love you unconditionally, but you really are the most clueless guy I've ever met."

"Oh…"

"But who knows…maybe Gaara likes that kinda thing." Ino giggled, winking.

"Hey! That's not funny, Ino!" He yelled, blushing slightly at the implication, as she got up onto her feet. Naruto was very protective of his masculinity- something both Ino and Kiba took advantage of- and though he didn't have anything against gays (he was pretty sure Sasuke was one anyway) he somehow felt threatened by the suggestion that he himself delivered his packages through the back door. "You know full well I'm not gay."

She smiled at him slyly, "Gay- no. But there's always a chance you have an undiscovered bi side. After all, without experimenting, how could you be so sure?" Naruto practically spluttered at her words, staring at her in absolute wonder.

"Does t-that mean…you've experimented, Ino?"

"You're so cute when you're having perverted thoughts," she said, pinching his flustered cheek. "But never ask me that again."

"Why do you get to ask inappropriate questions then?" The youth snapped, pouting in annoyance at his friend. "You get to have all your perverted thoughts."

"Naruto, my brain's too busy making me amazing. It doesn't have time for perverted thoughts." She giggled. "Besides, I just thought that a little experimentation might be a nice break after what went down with Sakura." That was enough to make the young man blush deeply.

"Ino…" He hissed in warning.

"Fine, fine." She sighed, heading towards the exit with a victorious smile planted on her beautiful face. "Just make sure you don't pressure the poor guy into a friendship with you. Go easy on him!"

"Hey, are we still on for tonight?!" Naruto yelled after her.

"Yup! Your room at eight!"

"I just want Monday to hurry up and get here so I can start my courses," Gaara groaned, taking a long drag from a cigarette some random dude had given him earlier as a peace offering. The redhead didn't know or care who he was, all he knew was that when he shot him a glare, this was what he was given in return. "I'm sick of having nothing to do."

"Yeah, well smoking isn't exactly a good way to fill the day." Temari lectured at him down the phone, the disappointment evident in her tone. "If that becomes a habit, I'll beat you black and blue."

"Yeah, yeah. It's a one off- promise." Gaara assured her. Truth was he had no interest in alcohol, drugs or tobacco. But, in the short term, it was a good stress relief. And it was a nice change to wander outside for a fag, rather than stay stuck in his room alone. "How's things at home?"

"Pretty boring since you left actually. Considering you hardly talk or do anything, I'm actually really surprised how much things have changed."

"Thanks," He muttered bitterly. It was nice to know he was appreciated.

"Aw, don't be like that. If you really wanna know why it's so dull here," She dropped her voice to a whisper. "it's because Kankuro's been moping and sulking since we got back. I think he misses you a lot."

"How sweet…" Gaara said slowly, actually finding the idea quite amusing. The thought of his older brother pining after him now he was gone was the funniest thing he'd heard for a while. "Say hello from me."

"Will do." She muttered dismissively, obviously wanting to change subject onto the one thing she'd been wondering. "So how's that roommate of yours, huh?"

"He's…" Gaara sighed, resting his head against the cool brick of the wall as he flicked his cigarette away, "an idiot. He's loud, intrusive, annoying and he just doesn't give up. But…"

"But?" She asked expectantly.

"I had an attack last night."

"Oh, Gaara. I'm sorry. So soon?" Temari's sisterly instincts instantly kicked in. "How did Naruto react?

"Well that's the thing…" the redhead began, unsure if he should really tell his sister this. "he was really nice about it. He helped me calm down and didn't laugh or make fun of me when I explained it and…he decided that we're now friends."

"Wow!" The excitement was clear in her voice…it stung Gaara to his core. He knew he should have kept it quiet. "That's awesome to hear, Gaara! Sounds like this Naruto is a really great guy after all."

"Don't push it, Temari." Gaara hissed. "He's just barely bearable…just." That earned a laugh from his sister.

"Well, good luck is all I can say. Once your courses start you'll probably be too busy to even notice the guy."

"Not a chance. This guy's way too…noticeable…" the redhead muttered, not sure himself in what way he meant it. There were plenty of things that made Naruto stand out, from his loud and boisterous personality to his charming and handsome looks. Gaara wasn't entirely sure what it was that made him keep stealing glances out the corner of his eye, or listening carefully to every sound his roommate made. He liked to think he was just curious about the guy, since they were sharing a room, but the day before had proven that wrong. He was actually attracted to Naruto…he actually had some level of feelings for him. Gaara was hoping they'd pass, like most feelings did, and that it was a result of being temporarily knocked off balance by Naruto. But, somehow, he doubted it…

"Are you still there or what?!" Temari yelled down the phone, snapping her little brother out of his thoughts.

"Er, yeah. Sorry, got distracted for a minute." Gaara said quickly, hating himself for the blush he could feel rising on his cheeks.

"Distracted? That's not like you, Gaara…"

'No…it's not…' Gaara pondered, gulping slightly. 'Damn you, Uzumaki.'

"FUCK YOU, KIBA! YOU CAN SUCK IT!"

Gaara froze, fingers just hovering over the door handle to his dorm room, as he heard Naruto's voice practically scream out in excitement. Part of him really didn't want to know, but it was getting late and he didn't have anywhere else to kill time. So, reluctantly, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. He was vaguely surprised by the scene within his room, as well as its occupants, but shrugged it off nonetheless.

Naruto was sat cross-legged on the floor in a circle of other teenagers, a triumphant grin on his face as he pointed to a row of playing cards he had slammed onto the carpet. Looking around, Gaara recognised only one of the others- the guy he had seen on his first day, Kiba. The others, however, weren't familiar at all. So, despite lack of interest, Gaara analysed them anyway.

There were six in total: Naruto, Kiba, a black-haired guy with pale skin, a tired looking boy with a ponytail, a girl with long blonde hair and another girl with dark hair pulled into two buns. Each one of them turned to look at him as Gaara closed the door and he found their expressions of surprise irritating- it was his room after all!

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto yelled, his grin broadening. "We're just playing pontoon- didn't fancy going out tonight." The short explanation wasn't at all satisfying and the redhead certainly wasn't pleased with the strangers littering his living space. And the mess they had made was even more irritating- empty bottles and food wrappers thrown everywhere. "Everyone, this is Gaara." Naruto announced, slurring a little. He'd obviously had some alcohol, though probably not too much. "Introduce yourselves!"

"I'm Kiba," the tattooed brunette said with a wave, looking a little weary.

"Sasuke," the pale-skinned boy, stoic and unreadable.

"Name's Shikamaru," the tired-looking one, boredom all over his face.

"Ino," the blonde girl, with a sweet and charming smile.

"And I'm Tenten!" the one with buns, rather enthusiastic in her speech.

"These are all my friends!" Naruto yelled proudly. "I mean, my other friends. You're my friend too, Gaara."

"Great," the redhead mumbled, heading over to his bed.

"Hey, d'ya wanna play?" His roommate asked, "We've only just started so I can deal ya in if you want?"

"I'll pass." Gaara said, slumping down on his bed to rest his aching body. He'd done a lot of walking whilst trying to avoid a certain blonde, he desperately needed to lie down. "I'm just gonna read, you guys go on." Why he was being so polite was beyond him, but Gaara said nothing more as he pulled out the manga he was currently reading and opened to the bookmarked page. If he was lucky, he could probably just ignore the group of teenagers until they left and his night would go without a hitch.

"Where were we? Oh, yeah! Kiba, take it off!" Naruto yelled, instantly grabbing Gaara's attention. His teal eyes snapped from the page to the brunette currently muttering about how much the game sucked.

"Fine," Kiba grumbled, reaching down to the hem of his t-shirt sulkily.

'Oh, you cannot be serious.' Gaara face-palmed mentally as he watched the teen pull his shirt off and throw it across the room. 'A card game with a stripping forfeit. I didn't think people actually played them, I thought it was just a tv thing…'

But, sure enough, Kiba was left sitting in the circle shirtless. If Gaara was honest, the brunette had a pretty fit body, loaded with toned muscle, but nothing of particular interest. What bothered him was the idea that he'd now have to put up with this group of people stripping in his dorm room. That looming thought made him instantly scan the others to see their state of undress.

Ino, Tenten, Sasuke and Shikamaru were still fully-clothed.

Kiba was worse off, now missing both socks and his top.

Naruto was missing one sock.

They must have only just started.

Growling, Gaara returned to his manga in hopes of burying himself in the shallow storyline and blocking out the sounds and actions of these damn house guests. He didn't want to see any of them naked…especially not Naruto! That would be the worst possible scenario right now!

"You got the lowest, Sasuke! Take off that sock!" Naruto yelled, voice full of smug triumph…

"Woohoo! C'mon, Ino, start losing 'em!" Kiba shouted as the round ended…

"Bad luck, Tenten." Another round gone…

And the rounds continued to pass again and again and again…

"Aw, dammit!" Naruto groaned.

"Tough luck, Naruto. Lose the shirt." Ino said slyly as she was left victorious of yet another round. Gaara had to admit, this girl was damn good at this game. Out of everyone, she had lost the least amount of clothing- just one sock! Naruto had been doing rather well too, until he lost the most recent round.

Kiba was down to his boxers, proving to be the worst at the game.

Shikamaru and Sasuke were both shirtless, showing off their slim physiques.

Tenten had also lost her shirt, now showing her coral pink bra.

And now Naruto was…

'Shit.' Gaara cursed inwardly, trying his best to keep his eyes on his manga. So far he had succeeded in keeping to the background, sneaking the occasional glance to see who was winning the game and avoiding any attention. He noticed that only Naruto occasionally looked over to check on him. But now Naruto was grasping the hem of his shirt, Gaara wasn't sure how long he could go on ignoring things. He knew perfectly well that once the blonde's torso was revealed, he would be taking more than a brief glance.

And so, teal green eyes watched in fascination as inch after inch of bronze skin was slowly revealed to all the room's inhabitants. To say he was impressed was a major understatement. If Gaara had to try his best to describe Naruto's upper body to someone who hadn't seen it he would be sat there for hours talking about it.

He wasn't too differently built than Kiba, but was somehow so much hotter. Beautifully sculpted abs adorned his stomach, obviously having been toned through vigorous exercise over the years, along with pecs more prominent and defined than his brunette friend's and two dusty, pert nipples. His golden skin seemed luscious and smooth stretched out over lean muscle and those cursed biceps of his bulged as he yanked the shirt over his head, ruffling his blonde locks a little.

Kiba wolf whistled as the shirt was discarded and chuckled at his own joke, slapping Naruto on the back.

"Not bad, Naruto. But not good enough when you're competing with my sexiness!" The tattooed teen yelled proudly. Gaara wasn't impressed. Ignoring Kiba, he watched Naruto's modest smile and pure eyes sparkle. Naruto had a perfect body, a sweet (if not overbearing) personality and a genuine feel to him. What really topped it off when it came to his attractiveness was the fact he seemed rather oblivious to just how drop dead gorgeous he was. They say confidence is attractive and Gaara agreed with that. Naruto was confident, outspoken and sure in himself but he wasn't cocky- like Kiba. His confidence was at the perfect level…the level that really appealed to his redheaded roommate.

'Dammit.' Gaara hissed to himself, realising just how much of an effect a half-naked Naruto was having on him. He was hypnotized. He didn't even notice as the next few rounds went by- far too focused on the way the blonde's muscles stretched and moved as he played out his cards. Only one thing snapped him out of it:

"You lose again, Naruto!" Kiba yelled triumphantly, the cockiest grin known to man on his face.

"Aw, darn it!" The blonde groaned, climbing to his feet.

This was going way too quick. Gaara could only watch helplessly as those jeans were unbuttoned, unzipped and pushed down to the ground- revealing more than was comfortable. Naruto was left standing there in nothing but a pair of bright orange boxers, showing off nearly all his body for everyone to see. And, the usually stoic, Gaara was shocked by just how interested he was. Normally he couldn't care less if someone undressed in front of him (not that it was a regular occurrence) but Naruto was a different story…

Gaara reluctantly drank in the sight of strong thighs and sturdy calves, as well as the significant bulge lurking in those boxers. The brightly-coloured shorts were pretty loose on Naruto's hips- hiding any outline of what was beneath- but a bulge was still visible. And Gaara couldn't help but picture what that bulge hinted at.

"Better luck this round, Naruto." Ino hummed as the boy sat back down and crossed his legs again. Gaara dragged his eyes away, back onto the page. There was no way he could concentrate on his manga's convoluted story, but at least he could avoid staring and gawking like an idiot!

That was…until…

…

Naruto lost the next round too…

"Alright, Naruto," the now braless Tenten said with a smirk. "Boxers come off!"

A/N: Well, there you go!

Poor Gaara. No matter how emotionally stunted he is and how much he distances himself from ordinary human behaviour, not even he can remain calm and unmoved when faced with the sexiness that is Naruto Uzumaki!

What did you think of this chapter guys? Let me know!