A/N: Chapter six already? Okay whatever you say! Thanks for the love and I hope you enjoy!

It became a new sort of habit, going into Tackle and Things with Naruto. For three days after discovering his humble abode (if one could call it that) the two of us seemed to find each other quite often. Fleeting run-ins and the occasional, shall I admit, scheduled moment together…

I just felt so out of touch with the 'me' of last year or the year before and most definitely from my childhood. I found myself being in constant craving of company. Not that of the old man or the many sweet women that waited tables or bars…

I only wanted to see one person.

Also, I should catch you up on the fact that in these last three days I have come to the absolute conclusion that Naruto is a mermaid, which made it both unusual and understandable that I sought him out each day.

I think realized it that afternoon in the boat, watching him and how right he was floating about in the ocean.

He could not be any normal person; he had no desire for stability, schedule, or even a roof above his head. Hell, the blonde was even iffy about a floor beneath his feet, admitting on one of our trips to the old tackle shop that water made him feel much safer, that floors just made him feel like there was nowhere to go when things got bad.

Today we were talking to Tsunade, more so he was talking and I was listening, and I've come to a second conclusion that was as equally baffling as my first.

I was attracted to him.

The blonde who waved a gold gypsy coin bracelet through the air manically so he could hear it chime…

Things had definitely changed seemingly overnight.

Despite the sound he was making impulsively I think what he liked most about it was the way it gleamed when the sun hit each coin just right.

He did have a desire for pretty little useless things… shouldn't mermaids try to be more subtle?

"You ready?" He chirped, receiving his change from the blonde woman.

"Hmn."

"Bye boys, come back tomorrow ya hear?" Tsunade called after us, earning a wave from my peculiar friend.

Friend…

The word didn't seem like enough to describe what we had fallen into.

Outside the sun was hot and the ocean grey, nothing but the sound of gulls over the rocky hills.

An isolation that I never appreciated before that moment, frozen in place by the way Naruto smiled at me.

"Come to my house for dinner tonight." As impulsive as it was it hadn't been a question. I genuinely wanted him at my house, maybe to prove that he was real and not just a manifestation of my imagination, maybe I just thought he'd like a home cooked meal in a place that felt like home.

Well, I'd never felt it but maybe he could… in fact, maybe he could make me feel it too.

"Okay, you sure your siblings won't mind?" Such a look of dejection, as if he'd never been welcomed into a house before.

I wanted to know why.

"Don't worry on it." I whispered, realizing that never before in my life had I had a guest for dinner.

Concerned teachers didn't count.

When we went our separate ways it was with the promise of seeing each other that night, just after the sun set. Perhaps introducing the maybe-mermaid to my family was not a good idea, judging by the stories of danger and bloodlust that seemed to follow them wherever their stories were told.

I could have possibly just endangered the only people who stayed by my side through the awkward and the horrible years.

With Naruto out of sight I turned quickly, deciding my sister deserved fair warning that we would be having a guest tonight.

Perhaps I should have asked her before inviting him.

()()()()()()

If I could describe the expression on the faces in the kitchen it would have been a cross between bewilderment and possible glee.

Well, especially Temari.

Now, Temari , she was positively bouncing across the kitchen, pots and skillets strewn everywhere in an attempt at what she claimed was a gourmet meal.

It smelled like the same mediocrity she made every other night, just messier.

Then again, I never much liked food.

"Are you really wearing that?" She blanched, Kankuro stopping to sniff his shirt.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Kankuro! Can't you at least dress nice? Gaara is having a friend over!" I felt my forehead furrow; she'd certainly said that with conviction. She may have met Naruto once before but she met a great many people, it was doubtful my sister would remember the man.

Would she be… disappointed? Waiting around for nearly twenty-one years for me to make a friend of sorts; surely having given up hope on me bringing home a woman.

I felt my pulse accelerate abnormally, the thought of her knowing that I felt a strange attraction to the blonde… frightening.

What if… what if the only people I'd ever had couldn't accept it… whatever it was.

When a rough knock thudded through the house, I experienced a fear like nothing else, Temari rushing to answer the door.

I could not see the expression on her face when Naruto was revealed, smiling and waving a flower in her direction.

"Hello Miss, it's been a while." He spoke smoothly, letting her accept the small but gracious gift. Then I heard her giggle and I knew the world must have started to rotate backwards.

Temari did not giggle.

I was tempted to ask Shikamaru to control his woman, that is, if she wouldn't shatter my jaw for opening my mouth.

I also wondered if him standing there with that flower reminded her of Shikamaru.

"You must be Naruto then! I remember those pretty blue eyes."

I'm fairly certain that Kankuro, Shikamaru, and I all simultaneously blanched.

"I'm flattered; really, it's very nice to formally meet you." And then they were shaking hands, something that my sister ended quickly by pulling him into a hug.

"You're much too stiff, come in and meet my husband." There was a special pride she had when referring to the man in such a way.

"Shikamaru." He spoke simply; giving a firm shake to Naruto's outstretched hand. This only seemed to make the boys smile twice as wide, twice as genuine.

"Hello, name's Kankuro, 'ave a seat wherever you like." My brother gestured, obviously trying to be civil and appear sober.

I saw the half empty whiskey bottle floating around the other room; he was fooling no one, except maybe the smiling blonde that forced him into a handshake.

With the ice completely shattered I was finally able to let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding, letting the man take my sleeve and drag me into the dining room with him.

"Where should we sit?" He whispered, observing the five set places with endearment. "I've never settled down for a family dinner before." And just like that I got a small insight to what the life of a mermaid was like…

Or maybe just a lonely boy.

I wish I could explain more thoroughly what happened during that dinner, something that started with Naruto ultimately gushing about how wonderful Temari's cooking was and how he hadn't had a home cooked meal anything like it ever before.

Then there were instances where I would pipe up, earning glances from everyone save for Naruto who by now was very used to my speaking and in fact, encouraged it. I think the talking is what made them start paying more attention to the details, things like me sweeping across the table to help the blonde cut his steak.

Mermaids couldn't have had steak; it would explain why he stabbed it with his fork and attempted to take bites off it.

He was really building a case against himself, though with the sound of his upbringing it wouldn't be insane to assume he simply didn't have nice things often.

Things I never thought were odd when alone together suddenly became… personal in the eyes of my family. From thumbing a spot of sauce free from his lip to god forbid letting the blonde tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear…

Temari stopped eating at some point and just stared, Kankuro on the other hand, refused to look up from his plate.

Surprisingly, it was Shikamaru who took the most shining to the blonde, though maybe having something to do with the fact that they were the same age.

Two hours of mindless conversations, bouts of laughter, and awkwardly endearing behavior on my part later the five of us were up and about, collecting dishes and tidying up.

Naruto insisted upon helping Temari load the dishwasher before he left, doing one final daring act as I saw him to the door.

Reaching up with absurd confidence he did what none had done since before my psychotic preteen years.

He hugged me.

I couldn't force myself to do any more than set my hands on his waist, his grip around my neck near deadly.

"Thank you for having me over." He chimed to the three dumbstruck individuals behind me.

"An… Anytime hon." Temari stuttered, waving with a shaky hand.

I watched him disappear into the night; the same way he did every day, and realized that having him over wasn't a complete disaster.

At least I thought so until the door was shut, giving Kankuro all the opportunity he needed to finally speak up.

"What the 'ell was that!?" He yelled, something that although he did often, caught me off guard.

I can't recall it ever being me that his shouts were directed at.

"Kankuro!" Temari shouted back, pinning him with a glare akin to hell itself.

"Who knew you of all people would turn out queer?"

And there it was, laid out for everyone to see… mainly myself.

I'd never hated a silence so much.

"Shut up." Temari hissed, not even bothering to raise her voice anymore.

"A poof."

"Kankuro…"

"A fag."

A shatter, Temari had thrown his half empty bottle of whiskey to the floor, leaving it in a thousand little pieces.

"What the hell!?" Kankuro shouted, giving our sister eyes of disgust though nothing as harsh as the one he then sent me.

"You're okay with this!?"

"I am more than okay, can't you see that for once your brother seems somewhat happy or are you actually that blind?" Her tone was something awful. "Or maybe you're just a drunk fuck."

Again with the horrid silence, Shikamaru having buried his face into his hand early on.

I felt so lost, like I should have expected things to go bad; they usually did.

Then I felt a warm hand on my arm, that of Shikamaru. When had I begun to hang my head in shame?

"Gaara…" His voice dry and eyes pinned on his wife and my brother who stood ready to tear each other's throats apart. "He was very nice."

I could see Kankuro take the inhale for his next bout of profanities but I stopped him early on.

In fact, he and Temari both froze to watch me as I spoke, awe in their gaze.

"Yeah, he is isn't he?"

I wasn't familiar with the way it felt but I'm sure by the looks on their faces I must have been smiling.

Kankuros reaction was somewhere deep down, anticipated, but the way both Shikamaru and Temari accepted him with (metaphorically on Shikamaru's part) open arms, that was enough to get me thinking.

Maybe it was okay to start thinking of him as something more than a maybe-mermaid; maybe I could start thinking of him as someone I could find potential solstice in…

Something everyone around me had never had the guts to say I needed.

Except for those damned counselors.

That night I slept again, maybe because the events of the night left me overly exhausted…

I dreamt, like I always do when I managed sleep.

This time it was about Naruto, big blue ocean eyes and soft skin something like caramel…

In my dream he looked almost as beautiful as he did when he looked at little things with love, things like his bracelet or the ocean itself…

Things like…

I woke up cold and alone in the room, my brother probably having slept on the couch.

This irked me just a bit, couldn't stand to sleep in the same room as his fairy brother I guess.

The worst part was that it never even occurred to me that I was chasing someone of the same gender, not until I brought him home to 'meet the folks' so to speak.

I almost wish it had never been pointed out yet knew it could never be undone.

I made a promise to myself, looking up at the old roof, that I would never use words like gay or even homosexual to describe what I had for him.

It was so much more than those meaningless words.