A/N: Thanks for the reviews of last chapter; I'm glad people liked it. This one was a lot easier to write and thus, has come a lot quicker. You'll notice (and anyone who knows me from my previous stories will know) I alternate between very quick, rapid updates and the occasional slow update. When a chapter is particularly important or difficult to tackle, I like to take my time. So that's why every now and then a chapter may take a while.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Warnings: Strong language, reference to sexual scenes

Strange

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' Naruto rushed to the bathroom, cursing himself, hormones, dreams and life itself. He was completely freaking out and was glad no one was around to see it. 'What's wrong with me?!' He growled, hurriedly turning on the tap and splashing his sweaty face with cold water in hopes it would wash away all his problems. Needless to say it didn't. The blonde looked up at the mirror, his reflection staring back at him in confusion and horror. What was going on?

Naruto's usual sex-related dream was usually rather pleasant. In fact, the only unpleasant thing about it was the fact it reminded him how long it had been since the last time he actually had sex. But this time it had been extremely unpleasant. More like a nightmare than a dream. His nameless, faceless lover had morphed into an image of…of…Gaara! The voice moaning his name had been Gaara's! The body clenching around him had been Gaara's!

'Calm down, Naruto.' He took a deep breath, straightening up in an attempt to relax. 'It was a dream. The stuff Ino said probably just messed with your head and made you…dream about that.' That's all it was- a harmless dream. Meaningless. Nothing to worry about. People couldn't help what they dreamed about so why bother thinking about it? Right?

But then why had it been so good?

Naruto wasn't gay or bi or anything other than straight! That was something he was absolutely certain of! He was very secure in his own sexuality. He often joked around and he and Kiba would pretend to be a couple for the sake of humor but that was just further proof of his security. He'd never once been attracted to another dude. He could admit when a guy was good-looking but there was a difference between noticing that and reacting to it. Was it normal for guys to have the occasional dream about other guys? Maybe it was…maybe it was just that no one admitted it.

'Look at it this way, Naruto.' He began, gathering all his thoughts together. 'You've had one dream about a guy and thousands about girls! Compared to all the dreams about banging chicks, this one's not worth remembering. It don't mean anything.' And, strangely, that thought was comforting. It was logical. Naruto sighed heavily and forced himself to smile at his bemused reflection. He could move past this and get over it. He'd probably find it funny by the end of the day. Hell, he probably wouldn't even remember it tomorrow after tonight's female-focused dream. Everything was going to be fine...absolutely fine…

'G-Gaara!' Naruto gulped as his own lust-filled voice moaned out inside his head. He remembered the dream so damn well. Bending down, he splashed his face again and again in desperation. This just couldn't be happening. The worst thing was he was still hard. How the hell could he still be horny at a time like this?! Sometimes he really hated his perverted mind.

'I need to get laid, that's all.' Naruto reminded himself, remembering that he hadn't had any attention since breaking up with Sakura. He was a horny teenager so it was only natural to start marvelling at how soft Gaara's skin was and how inviting his lips looked and…what he was trying to say was that it made sense to start noticing that stuff when he was so sexually starved. He hadn't even masturbated for a week after all! In fact, Naruto didn't actually masturbate much at all…

That's right. This was no big deal. It was just the silly response of a young man who was in desperate need of release. His horny mind had latched onto Gaara because it was so unsatisfied. If Naruto was getting some regularly then that dream would have never happened. It meant absolutely nothing! Nothing…

Gaara breathed in deeply, allowing the cool morning air to fill his lung, before gently exhaling. He was fond of how pure the morning air was and how soothing it felt to breathe in. It really helped comfort a troubled mind and ease the weight of any problems he had. It was fresh and untouched, not yet polluted by the hustle of cursed teenagers going about their lewd business. He liked it that way. He liked it to be perfect.

With a gentle sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair as he followed the path closely. He'd spent the morning sat under his new favourite tree and was heading back to his room. No doubt Naruto was awake by now and preparing a poor excuse of a breakfast. Gaara didn't really have any interest in seeing his roommate right now. His interest in the blonde was undeniable at this stage and it was obvious that he had feelings for the idiot but Gaara was a realist and the reality was that indulging those feelings of his would only cause complications. Naruto's sexuality didn't even come into it. Regardless of the blonde's preference, there was simply no chance of him sharing Gaara's interest. Naruto was happy, optimistic, outgoing, an extrovert and warmer than anything in the world. Gaara, however, was dull, empty, realistic, a loner and introverted…and cold…so cold…

Just because he realised that he was capable of regular emotion didn't change facts. Even if his cold demeanour was a shell, it made little difference. He could imagine exactly what Naruto would want from a relationship- joy, affection, appreciation and love. Gaara simply couldn't supply him with any of them. That was the end of the matter. They were far too different and the idea of a relationship was far too convoluted and absurd.

Gaara had no intention of lingering on such fantasies nor of pursuing them. He would simply carry on with life until his heart adjusted to his mind's logic. He'd go through college and then he and his roommate would go their separate ways- a short-lived and ultimately fragile interaction with no hope of eternity. That was the reality. And Gaara was happy with that. Even if a relationship was sparked, how long would it last? A week? A few days? A few hours? Too many complications would arise. His hatred of the blonde's invasive personality and his own lack of capability for affection would destroy any hope.

'I just need to focus on trying not to kill the bastard.' The redhead mused, ruffling his own hair briefly (secretly remembering the way Naruto had done it for him the day before.) It was that moment that Gaara became aware of someone following him. He scowled, ears tuning to their gentle footsteps, as he slowed his own pace. It wasn't Naruto, that much he could work out in an instant. The blonde was too loud and enthusiastic. Stopping abruptly, Gaara turned his head to glare over his shoulder at the stalker coldly.

"Can I help you with something?" He spat viciously, hoping to scare whoever it was off rather than gain an answer. With most people, the harsh bitterness of his voice sent then running, but this person made no move to leave. Instead, they stopped a little away from Gaara and stared him in the face. 'Great. Now I have to deal with some moron in over his head.' The redhead cursed. He was used to fighting so the idea didn't move him but, the more he focused the more he realised that the stalker didn't seem the type to start fights. It was a young man, a little older looking than Gaara himself, around Naruto's height but of much smaller build. His form was slender rather than muscular and he didn't particularly seem strong enough to beat many people in a fight. He was dressed rather simply in an outfit of no particular interest and wore a pair of round spectacles on the bridge of his nose. His hair was silver, despite his youth, and pulled back into a ponytail with short bangs framing his forehead. The eyes behind those glasses were analysing Gaara with interest.

"Help?" He queried, rolling the word on his tongue as though considering it. "I wouldn't say 'help' exactly. If anything I just wanted to meet you, Gaara." The redhead rolled his teal eyes as he realised the harmlessness of this weird stalker. Gaara hadn't met enough people for his name to become common knowledge. For this man to know him by name meant he went to the effort of finding it out. In other words- he really was a stalker.

"Nice to meet you." Gaara hissed sarcastically, turning his head away as he prepared to continue walking and ignore the stranger completely.

"Hold on," the man called behind him. "You're Naruto's roommate, aren't you?"

'So this is Uzumaki's fault.' Gaara inwardly growled. 'I'll make him pay for causing me bother.'

"What of it?" He turned his head again to shoot an even more hateful glare towards the grey-haired man.

"I was just interested, that's all." Such an unsatisfying answer, especially so early in the morning when Gaara was particularly grouchy. "I wanted to know what kind of person was sharing a room with Naruto."

"The kind who doesn't have a lot of patience at this time of day." Gaara warned firmly, hoping the man would take a hint and piss off soon. Instead, the glasses-wearing burden just chuckled and reached up to push his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't mean to aggravate you, Gaara." He said with an amused smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I just happened to see you wandering around by yourself and thought it would be an opportune moment to introduce myself." Gaara very much doubted the man had 'just happened' to see him- more like followed him. He also wanted to point out that the stranger hadn't technically introduced himself but he didn't really want to know the other's name anyway so it suited him just fine. "My name's-"

"Whatever," the redhead mumbled, turning away for the final time to head back to the dorms. He really couldn't care any less and had no interest in staying in the presence of such a creep for more than a second. "I don't know what you want but you expected too much." With that, Gaara left his presence with such a sense of finality that he was sure that not even this stalker would persist. And, just as expected, the sounds of following footsteps couldn't be heard as Gaara made his way back to his room. He had succeeded in dissuading the creep and that improved his mood a little…

The man chuckled slightly, pushing the glasses up his nose once again as he watched Gaara slowly disappear from view, knowing full well he was returning to Naruto. He wasn't that easy to dishearten so Gaara's cold attitude didn't really affect him all that much. In fact, if anything, it amused him a great deal. He realised that the redhead couldn't be any more different from his roommate and that that was sure to cause some issues. After all, they were being forced to live in such close quarters of one another. Differences always caused friction in such circumstances.

"Have it your way, Gaara," the grey-haired man whispered to himself. "I don't mind your rudeness one little bit. I came here in hopes of extending a hand of friendship, whether you accepted it or not wasn't really the issue. But at least now you know I exist and that's good enough for now. Besides, this won't be the last time we meet." He adjusted his glasses once more before turning in the direction of his own dorm room, feeling rather pleased with how things had gone in general. "This year's going to be very interesting." He muttered amusedly before heading off gleefully.

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto greeted him with a grin as the redhead closed the door behind himself. "I went out and bought some stuff from the little shop down the road so we actually have something decent to eat. I didn't know what you liked so I didn't get you anything yet, but just let me know what you want and I'll fetch it!" The blonde was far too enthusiastic for the morning, the volume of his happiness really bearing into Gaara's aching head.

"What are you having?" Gaara asked dejectedly, wanting to make things as simple as possible as he hung up his jacket on the peg.

"Ramen!"

"R-ramen?" He repeated quizzically, turning to stare at his roommate as though he were absolutely insane. Sure enough, Naruto was sat on the kitchen counter with a small pot in one hand and ramming noodles into his mouth with the other (with the aid of chopsticks.) Gaara was completely bemused, having never heard of such odd eating habits before. "For breakfast?"

"Oh, sure," the blonde said around his mouthful of noodles. "Ramen's good for any meal!"

"You're kidding, right?" Gaara pressed, hoping that this was a misjudged joke on Naruto's part but, despite his cheeks full of food, the blonde actually looked completely serious. Sighing heavily at yet another thing he couldn't understand about his roommate, Gaara headed over to open the window to let it some of that soothing morning air.

"Nope! So, what ya want?"

"I'm fine for now."

"Gaara," Naruto began seriously. "You haven't had breakfast since you got here. I'm not letting you skip it this time."

"Fine, just get me whatever." The redhead scowled, pushing the window open with more effort than he would have liked to put in. "Just not ramen."

"Great!" Naruto grinned, hopping off the counter and putting his own 'breakfast' down. "Most important meal of the day, ya know!"

"Whatever…"

"Are you okay?" The blonde asked as he opened the fridge, looking over at his roommate with slight concern. That look made Gaara feel sick. He didn't like the thought of Naruto genuinely caring about him on any scale. "You're always quiet but you seem kinda…distracted?" He asked, searching for a better word as he pulled some bacon out the fridge and closed the door behind him.

That much was true. Even though Gaara really didn't care about the odd stalker from earlier, he couldn't help but keep thinking about him. Maybe he should have waited to hear the man's name; at least then his curiosity wouldn't keep pestering him.

"It's nothing, just…" he trailed off thoughtfully, wondering whether or not he should actually tell Naruto about what had happened. It wasn't really worth talking about and he expected the blonde would make a bigger deal out of it than was necessary.

"Just?" Naruto pressed on as he fetched the frying pan and oil, getting ready to start cooking.

"It's…nothing." Gaara mumbled finally. "I was just thinking about my course tomorrow." That bullshit answer seemed enough to satisfy the blonde idiot and actually made him smile.

"Ah, me too! Kinda exciting but kinda depressing at the same time, huh?" The redhead nodded in agreement despite the fact that he had actually given little to know thought about his course at all. He wasn't interested in how it went because, to him, it was just a way to pass the time and avoid the working world. Whether it was good or not or whether he passed or not was of little consequence. He didn't possess the motivation to bother with it. "You given any thought to whether or not you're gonna take up the Social Care course?"

"Huh?" That question actually surprised Gaara slightly. It had been three days since the two of them had discussed their courses on the day they met so he found the fact that Naruto remembered he was considering another course rather unexpected. He himself had forgotten he'd even told his roommate about that. "Oh, er…I think I'll apply for it Tuesday and decide whether or not to drop the Philosophy course based on how it goes tomorrow."

"You don't really seem to care much?" Naruto pointed out quizzically as he started cooking the bacon- it's intrusive sizzle filling the brief silence that followed the blonde's words.

"Not really."

"How come?"

"I just don't." Gaara hissed, started to get annoyed with the questions. "I don't have any worthwhile plans for the future to work towards so whatever course I do here doesn't matter. It's just something to fill my days with."

"Oh…" Naruto mumbled, seeming a little…disappointed? "Well, wh…what about helping children in the system?" He asked, looking over at his roommate with a hopeful gleam. "I thought that was…a really nice thing to work at. I thought…"

"That was just a passing thought, nothing serious." Gaara muttered dejectedly, ignoring the look of hurt and sadness that crossed that handsome face. He didn't want to hurt Naruto's feelings but he wasn't about to put unnecessary effort in just to please the idiot. "Truth is I don't want to be here at all. The only reason I came is because Temari was pressuring me to get a job and I'm not really suited for the working world. If I could I'd go back home without another thought." He hadn't meant it to come out so bitter and harsh, but the truth had to be told.

"You're bacon's ready." Naruto mumbled, plating it up and leaving it on the counter for him. "Hope you like it." With that, the blonde headed over to his bed and sat down. He pulled out his mobile and started tapping away at the screen, completely ignoring his roommate.

'Is he…sulking…?' Gaara watched him for a moment, waiting for the idiot to suddenly leap up and proclaim the whole thing was some kind of dumb joke, but Naruto showed no signs of doing such a thing. He remained oddly and eerily silent as he continue texting- or whatever he was doing- and didn't even look up once. Also in silence, Gaara headed over to his plate of bacon. He decided to ignore Naruto and wait until he was back to his old self. At least now he had some peace and quiet whilst inside his own room. It was comforting to know he didn't have to go for a walk to get away from the idiot's irritating personality. Still…it was odd…

Nevertheless, Gaara stood by the counter and ate his bacon with a clear head. He had to admit, Naruto had prepared a pretty good breakfast in just moments and it was far better than anything Temari had ever made him- his sister was a terrible cook. Honestly, it should be illegal for that woman to step foot in the kitchen. Then again, neither Kankuro or Gaara were prepared to play 'cook' so back in Sunagakure it was her food or none at all…Gaara still thought none was the best option.

"I'm spending the day with Ino." Naruto announced suddenly, getting to his feet and ramming his phone into his jacket pocket. He headed straight for the front door, not once glancing Gaara's way, and the redhead merely remained silent as he left. Behind him, the man left a cold and empty atmosphere. Naruto had mentioned nothing of spending the day with Ino- in fact he had strongly implied the day before that he was spending the day with Gaara in the room. That, coupled with the minutes of texting before his departure, left the tattooed teen to suspect that their day together had been arranged just then. Naruto hadn't seemed angry or moody; if anything he'd seemed hurt and upset…the kind of mood you'd expect from someone who had been horridly insulted.

Not once in the last few days had Gaara seen this side of his roommate. Naruto had been nothing but cheery and happy since Thursday and the sudden change was rather…displeasing? Gaara liked consistency- let's leave it at that.

'Oh, well. Looks like a whole day of peace and quiet.' He thought to himself, deciding he didn't care in the slightest. It's not like Uzumaki's thoughts and feelings were his concern anyway.

Naruto was glad when he caught sight of the woman, a small smile spreading onto his face. He'd headed straight to the college's main office as Ino had instructed via text and, sure enough, she was there. As soon as Ino enrolled, she applied for a student job in the college's office for the sake of both improving her CV and getting access to information. She was, after all, the one who knew everything about anything. Working at the office was just another means to that end. With courses starting the next day, Ino had been called in to help prepare some stuff- Naruto hadn't really paid attention to the details.

"Hey, you." She said with that beautiful smile of hers, pulling the man into a warm hug before pulling away and reaching up to flick him on the nose.

"Ouch!" Naruto cried, reaching up to rub his injury soothingly. "What was that for?!"

"For bothering me when I'm working." She scolded.

"But you said in your text-"

"I'm so glad you did though. I. Am. Bored." Ino said, her smile returning as she waved towards a pile of papers on the desk- something she'd obviously been working on. It was then that Naruto caught sight of the room's other occupant- a man sat at the desk quietly, tapping away at the keyboard. He remembered the man from previous encounters and knew that he too was a student working at the office.

"Hey, Kabuto." He said with a smile, nodding his way. The grey-haired man looked up from the computer screen and offered a small smile in return, returning the nod.

"Naruto," he said in greeting, before returning his attention to the screen. With their exchange done, Naruto turned to face Ino once more with his trademark pout on his face.

"If you're glad I bothered you, why'd you flick me?"

"Regardless of whether I'm happy about it or not, Naruto, you should know better than to interrupt me when I'm working." She said with a teasing smirk, giving him a wink which she knew would make him blush- it did. "That said…let's get out of here!"

"But what about…?" The blonde began, glancing towards the pile of papers on the desk. Ino had only been in the office half an hour; she couldn't be done with her work already. However, the woman merely smiled in return, rolling her eyes.

"Kabuto, you don't mind covering my work for me, do you?" She asked sweetly, her eyes fixed on Naruto's face.

"Not at all." Came the simple reply from the content man at the desk. He, like Ino, didn't change the focus of his attention- still focusing on the computer screen as he typed away.

"Thanks, hun. I'll make sure to pay you back." She said in that smooth, innocent tone of hers. "Anyway, let's go find something to do while we talk about what's bothering you." Ino added, turning to wrap her arms around one of Naruto's- dangling off his frame in a way that might imply they were more than friends. Of course, that wasn't the case, that was merely the way their friendship was.

"Alright," he said with a smile. "See ya around, Kabuto."

"Later, Naruto." The spectacle-wearing man said, looking up briefly to offer a slight smirk,

"Bye, Kabuto! Thanks for covering for me!" Ino shouted, waving as she led Naruto out the door. "Love you!" Naruto couldn't help but notice that her niceness was a little forced- probably because Kabuto was doing her a massive favour.

"Is there anything between you and him?" Naruto asked teasingly, nudging her with the arm she was holding onto once they were out of his earshot.

"Oh, god no." She said instantly, giggling at the idea.

"Well, that was harsh."

"Oh, I didn't mean it in a horrible way." She clarified. "Kabuto's gay. Not even I'm good enough to seduce the gay ones. Not that I'm out to do such a horrid thing mind you."

"He's gay?" Naruto asked, slightly bewildered.

"Yup." She smiled. "Though he's one of those people who won't pay any attention to someone unless they're really special so that's probably why you haven't heard anything about him being in a relationship."

"Oh," the blonde muttered in realisation. "guess that makes sense."

"So…you said something was bothering you?" Ino asked, moving straight onto the issue her friend had raised through text earlier.

"Well…" Naruto began, knowing this was gonna be a long day. Good thing he had Ino to make it better. "It's about Gaara."

"I shoulda known." She giggled.

"What a coincidence," Kabuto muttered amusedly as he watched the redhead walk in. "your roommate was in here not long ago."

"You." Gaara hissed, instantly recognising the stalker from earlier to be the smirking man behind the desk. This he hadn't been expecting. Narrowing his eyes coldly, he shot the grey-haired man the dirtiest look he could, making it well known that he didn't like him and certainly didn't appreciate seeing him again so soon. The man, however, merely cocked his head to one side in mock confusion, pretending he didn't understand the redhead's anger.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi," he said in a rather professional tone of voice. "I work here at the college's main office. Is there anything I can help you with, Mr…?" He trailed off, asking for Gaara's name with such a cursed smirk on his face it made the tattooed teen sick. He was mocking him. He was literally taking the piss for the sake of satisfying his own twisted sense of humor. Gaara didn't appreciate it, nor was he going to bother doing anything to entertain it. He could have exploded with rage and snapped at the man, but that would accomplish nothing and he had a feeling it would only make Kabuto laugh.

"I want a course application form." He stated bluntly, dragging his glare away from the man.

"Ah, very well." Kabuto said, reaching over to search a file of documents laid out on his desk. "You must excuse the lack of organisation. I was in the middle of sorting everything out for the up-coming term so nothing is really where it should be at the moment."

"Hm." Gaara hummed in reply, wanting this to hurry up and end so he could get out of there. He wasn't sure how long he could put up with this man. There was something about him that was infuriating.

"Are you planning to switch courses or simply apply for another as well as the one you've already secured a place on?" He asked, glancing between two different forms he had found, before looking up at Gaara with that smirk still plastered on his face.

"For now I just want to apply for a new one. I may drop my current one during the week." Gaara grunted, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Ah, well then..." Kabuto left one of the forms on the desk, extending the other out the redhead. "you'll be needing this." Gaara snatched it off him bitterly, shoving it in his pocket and turning to leave- hoping it would be the last time he ever saw the stalker.

"If you plan on dropping your course, you'll need to come back here so I can alter your file and do it on this computer." The man said nonchalantly, knowing full well how much it would piss Gaara off. "You'll also need to return that form to this desk by Tuesday. Courses can be dropped and sometimes switched at any time with no particular issue but applying for a new one entirely is a bit more problematic. The sooner you get that form back to me, the easier it will be to secure your place." Gaara bit his lip in annoyance. If Kabuto was implying he should stay and fill out the form now, he had another thing coming. The grey-haired man was doing a good job of making sure it would be impossible for Gaara to avoid him.

"Look, you." The redhead hissed.

"Kabuto." The man offered, in the way that people did when giving another permission to use their first name instead of formality. He was toying with Gaara, acting as though nothing were wrong.

"I don't know what your game is or why you're fixated on me but I'm warning you not to test me."

"I'm sorry, Gaara, but I'm not sure I know what you mean." He said, smirk growing. "I apologise if my attempts at friendship this morning came across poorly but I can assure you I have no untoward intentions towards you. I've never really been that good at making friends so I can understand if you got the wrong idea. Either way, I have absolutely no 'game' and am certainly not 'fixated' on you." Gaara's brow twitched slightly in annoyance. Kabuto was playing the innocent game. Whether there was truth in his words or not, it didn't change the fact that he was amused by Gaara's reaction. "However, I will take your warning into account and will make sure to tread more carefully in future."

"Hm." The redhead hummed again, walking right out the door before he was pushed too far again.

"Have a nice day!" Kabuto called after him.

Even with his back turned, Gaara could imagine the man's smirk.

'Did he say Naruto had been there earlier?'

A/N: Well, there you go!

Kabuto Yakushi has officially been introduced to the plot. He'll be playing a part in this story, though he probably won't become all that important until later, either way let me know what you thought of his introduction and this chapter in general!

Gaara's lack of motivation in life is coming back into focus again and it's obviously causing some friction between him and Naruto so we'll have to see how it pans out, huh?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Leave a review with your thoughts!